Amalgamate
by leena207
Summary: No vampires. No shapeshifters. No mythical creatures. Just Bella and Jacob.
1. Summary

Summary: No vampires. No shape shifters. No mythical creatures. Just Bella and Jacob.

Summing it all up:

Carlisle was never able to fully prove to his father that vampires weren't real. Though, he lived a long and happy life, falling in love with a beautiful woman and having three beautiful children.

Jasper joined the army and met the typical house wife of a woman. They married and had one innocent child, who grew to be like his own father, attracted to the military.

Edward died of the Spanish Influenza in 1918, just a few hours after his mother.

Esme lost her baby a few days after the birth and jumped off the cliff, the hospital took her straight to the morgue to die because they couldn't save her.

Rosalie died in the street and was found after the assault made by Royce King and his buddies. Royce King came down with meningitis and died only a short year later. What goes around comes back around.

Emmett was mauled by the bear, but found. Though he still wasn't strong enough to make it through.

Alice died in the asylum within a three year period of an unknown disease.

Isabella Swan was born September 13, 1988. She was born to proud parents, Renee and Charlie Swan. Renee, lover of sunshine, left Charlie a mere three months after Isabella's birth, leaving Charlie broken hearted. Renee and Isabella moved to beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. The sun was always shining and there were cactuses on every corner.

Isabella, who preferred Bella, visited Charlie every summer for one month, doing extracurricular activities that Bella was strongly opposed to. They visited Billy Black and the Clearwater's. Hiking, fishing, the whole nine yards. When she was fourteen, she decided that there would be no more Forks. So, her and Charlie vacationed together in California instead. The doesn't remember Billy Black or the Clearwater's.

Bella didn't exactly have friends. Nor a boyfriend for that matter. Her and Renee lived strictly off of a teachers salary, and that worked perfectly fine for them. When Bella was seventeen, she decided that it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie. In Forks. Note my extreme sarcasm.

She left for Renee. Renee had Phil, a minor league baseball player who traveled a lot. Bella knew that it made Renee unhappy to be away from Phil, though, so she hopped on a plane to Forks and will live with Charlie for a while. This will be a good thing. She hopes.

**AN: As I thought about writing this story, I never knew how extremely depressing it would be. All of the Cullen's are dead. Well, that sucks. Sorry to people who love Edward, don't get me wrong. I do too! I just want to see where my brain leads me with this story. It's my first. I would like it if you would review. Gracias :D**


	2. Preface

Preface:

Jacob was kind of like my hero, or my safe harbor. I could go to him with anything and he would listen and smile. He was patient and safe. You could trust him with your life and he would take care of it like it was an un-hatched egg.

He never did anything to hurt me. Never said hurtful words. Never made things hard for me. He always wanted to do what I wanted to do. Everything was great.

Then why did everything seem to change?


	3. New Kid

Chapter 1: The New Kid

"How was your nights sleep?" Charlie asked as I groggily made my way down the stairs to our small bright yellow kitchen.

"Fine," I replied emotionless. Actually, it had been a total disaster. It had rained all night and I'd hardly gotten any sleep. Not that I would have slept at all anyway. I was way too worried about school to sleep. I fixed myself a bowl of cereal and just as I sat down, Charlie stood up and left for work. Eating alone had its downs.

There were pictures in the living room that I could see from where I sat, and they were mostly of me and my mom. I sighed. He'd never really gotten over her. I rinsed my bowl out and got dressed in the quiet. I didn't do anything particularly special to my appearance. Just plain old Bella.

I went to school earlier than I should have. It was only drizzling outside, though it was still enough to send me into hysterics. I pulled up the hood of my light weight parka to cover the top of my head and headed to my truck. The truck was nice, dry. It was cleaner than expected too, though it still smelled vaguely of tobacco and gasoline. The engine to my new beat up truck was loud, louder than I'd hoped. But it would do.

The school wasn't necessarily hard to miss. Though the campus looked more like a line of houses, than buildings. It was small. This bothered me. The cars here were all mostly old like mine, nothing flashy. There was a sign over the door on the first building that I came to that read FRONT BUILDING, assuming this was were I went to check in, I parked, jumped out of the truck, and ran into the building to escape the rain quicker.

The room was brightly lit and some what stuffy. There were flyers of every different color scattered in baskets and on bulletin boards. There was a woman behind a large desk. She had red hair and glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.

She looked up. "May I help you?"

"I'm Isabella Swan," I answered quietly, I saw it in her eyes, how quickly she realized who I was.

"Of course," she muttered. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She informed me as she dug through loads of papers on her messy desk. She told me the best routes and showed me where the classes were on the map. Handing me the schedule, she added "I hope you have a wonderful day, Miss. Swan." I forced a smile upon my lips. That was doubtful.

I ran back to the dryness of my truck and drove to the main parking lot. People began staring and it made me uncomfortable. The sidewalk was starting to fill with students, people bumping and knocking into me. This didn't exactly help the uncoordinated. I glanced at my now soaked schedule and noticed that I had English with Mr. Mason. He sent me to an empty seat in the back of the class, without an introduction. We would be getting along just fine.

I already knew most of the information. English was one of my favorite classes, though it was particularly boring at times.

I noticed a boy with acne problems and greasy black hair that was slicked back. He leaned in across the isle to talk to me.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" I analyzed him over again. _Chess club_, I thought. I smiled dully and nodded.

"Bella," I corrected him. Of course he knew who I was. Everybody was waiting for my stupid arrival. I rolled my eyes and slightly grimaced.

"Where's your next class?" he asked, quite loudly. People looked over at us and I blushed.

"Government," I told him abruptly, hopefully to end the conversation. Didn't work.

"Im heading down that way, I could show you where it is," he stated shyly. "I'm Eric."

I smiled slightly, that was the end of the conversation. The class went by quicker than I'd have imagined it to. Though it was still sluggishly slow. After the bell rang, I grabbed my jacket and began walking with the boy named Eric. I noticed people eavesdropping and tried not to let it bother me.

"So, it's a lot different here then Phoenix?" he said. More of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"How much does it rain there?" he asked nosily.

"About three or four, maybe five times a year, if we're lucky," I snorted. _Yeah, lucky_.

"Wow, sunny." He commented. He paused to look at me for a moment. "You know, you aren't very tan," he observed.

I shrugged. "Yeah, my mother is part albino," I cracked. He didn't take to my joke too well. I sighed. We finally pulled up to the government building and I waved goodbye and walked inside.

The rest of the morning passed quietly without people stopping me or talking to me. They stared though, that seemed worse.

One girl, I think her name was Jessica, walked with me to lunch. We had Spanish and Trigonometry together. We sat together at lunch too. She introduced me to all of her friends, I couldn't remember their names after she'd said them. I ate silently. Every once in a while someone would ask me a question and I would answer politely, mostly lying.

Another girl who had reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me, so we walked slowly to class together. Not talking at all. She seemed as embarrassed as I was, but she also seemed nice, timid somehow. Class was boring, again. I was in an advanced placement biology class back home in Phoenix so listening to him go on and on wasn't necessarily my forte. I began gathering my stuff after the bell buzzed.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" I'd heard a male voice ask from behind me.

"Bella," I corrected without looking as I gathered my belongings and threw them into my bag.

"I'm Mike Newton," he said quietly. I recognized the name from somewhere, then remembered that he'd been one of the boys sitting at the lunch table. I turned to face him. He had sandy blond hair and a babyish face. He looked like the jock type of guy, and he seemed very persistent.

"Hi," I replied, smiling.

"What's your next class? Would like help finding it?" he asked hopefully.

"I have gym," I told him sluggishly. I hated gym.

"That's mine too," he seemed ecstatic about this. I didn't. He walked me to gym, mostly asking me about how my day had been. I lied a lot. Telling him that it was great. People were nice.

Gym was absolutely terrifying. I watched the girls play volleyball. They looked like some hard core volleyball players. Thankfully, I didn't have to play until tomorrow. Ugh. Tomorrow was too soon.

The day was okay. Better than I'd imagined. People were nice and helpful, though a few seemed a little _too _helpful. I wasn't used to all the attention. After school, I drove home to find an unfamiliar red and white truck in the driveway. I pulled up and climbed out of the car. Two people stepped out of the truck.

"Bella? Is that you?" An old, majestic voice asked. He squinted his eyes to get a better look at me.

"Well that depends on whose asking." I tried to sound brave, but failed miserably. I'd never been too good with defending myself, and I wasn't ready if needed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Guess you don't remember me huh?" He laughed, a rhetorical question. "I'm Billy Black, your dad got the car from me." I examined him more closely after that. He did look oddly familiar. He had hair about to his shoulders and he had that dark, Native American complexion. His eyes were black. He sat in a wheel chair.

It was then that I noticed the boy pushing him. He was about the same height as me. His hair was slightly longer than Billy's and pulled back at his neck and the same dark skin. He had little kid features, he looked 15, maybe 16. Probably not.

"I'm Jacob," he said, still smiling. He had the type of smile that you just couldn't _not _smile to. It made me sort of jealous.

"Hi, Jacob." I said, my smile as wide as his. Just then Charlie's police cruiser pulled into the drive way. I saw Charlie's face light up when he noticed Billy and Jacob. He walked up the small sidewalk and smiled.

"There he is," Charlie said exuberantly. "And Jacob too, well lets just make this a party!"

"That's the plan," Billy chuckled. Jacob just rolled his eyes. I then noticed a small paper brown bag that was soaked, with what I assumed was grease. "I even got Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry!" Billy cheered, holding up the bag of grease. Charlie took over Jacobs job of pushing the wheelchair and pulled him up the steps. I watched until I saw Jacob smiling at me out of the corner of my eye.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self conscious.

"Nothing," he replied. We started walking up the steps. "So, how was your first day in Forks?"

"Your kidding right?" I asked sarcastically. He shook his head no. "Oh, well. It was okay. I guess. Long day. New friends. The whole ten yards."

"You'll get used to the weather eventually," Jacob protested. I shook my head. How did he know that I didn't like the weather? Probably from Charlie.

"I highly doubt that," I informed him. He chuckled.

Jacob and Billy stayed most of the night. Watching football. Jacob and I talked about regular stuff. He mostly talked about his friends and school. His friends sounded cool. From the information I gathered, Quil was obsessed with senior girls, junior girls, pretty much just _girls_ in general and Embry was really shy. The big bag of grease didn't taste as bad as it looked. My stomach begged to differ.

After they left, I started to feel woozy, so I finished my homework quickly and retreated to my bedroom. I listened to some music for a little while to soothe my mind and then shut off the light, listening to the light rain pitter patter on the roof. Great. Another sleepless night.

**AN: I wrote Jacob and Billy coming over in the beginning because in the book, there was some sort of a tension between Charlie and Billy because of the Cullen's, what Charlie didn't know about them and Billy did. So, since there are no Cullen's (sad face), then there is no tension. So, they are still good old buddies[=. All in all, her first day wasn't so bad. No creepy Edward trying to refrain himself from killing her here. Hah! (I still love you Edward!)**

**Also, thank you for the reviews. It's not much, but it's enough for a first timer. Yes, Alice was a hard one for me too. She's my favorite character in the book. **

**I try to take time on my stories so they are just right. (I'm slightly OCD, really). I'll update as soon as I can every time. Thank you again, -Jenny[=.**


	4. Girls Night

Chapter 2: Girls Night

The next few days were better, much better actually. Jessica and Angela were really sweet. Mike was too, although I was beginning to feel a vibe coming off of him, like a crush. The same with Eric too. It was unbelievably uncomfortable around them.

The rain stopped. Unfortunately, the snow decided to come instead. That was awful. People started throwing snow and Mike was about to throw one at me, but rethought it once he saw my glare.

Sleeping was starting to become easier with me. I slumped into routine with Charlie and school. Wake up at six. Eat breakfast. Get ready. Drive to school. Visit with Jess before first period. Lunch with Jessica, Angela, Mike, Lauren, Tyler, and even Eric had joined us now. Come home, do homework. Fix dinner. Take shower. Check Renee's impatient e-mails. Sleep. Wake up and do it all over again. It was starting to get boring.

It was two weeks into my stay. The Sadie Hawkins dance at school was coming up. It was this Saturday. Girls were going crazy on who to ask and boys were sitting around waiting. Jessica and I were walking to our cars that day and she was talking about the dance, as usual.

"So I was thinking about asking Mike," Jess said, expecting my opinion out of it. Her expression was curious.

"Go for it Jess, you guys would be totally cute together," I replied, smiling. I was being completely honest. A huge smile spread across her face at my words.

"I know right?!" She said, a rhetorical question that always came out of her mouth when she agreed with something. I nodded enthusiastically. She looked at me skeptically again. "So who are _you_ thinking about asking?"

"Nobody," I answered truthfully. I wasn't a good dancer. I was actually a really terrible dancer.

"Why not?" She asked surprised. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she raked the parking lot with her eyes. Probably looking for Mike. Her eyes stopped at Ben and Angela. She smiled a warm smile. He was handing her his notebook. I smiled too.

"It's about time they start talking together. I've only been here for two weeks and I can already see the connection," I said, hopeful to change the subject. She half glared at me, half smiled.

"Don't you change the subject Bella," she said, her eyes passing over the parking lot again. Her eyes stopped and her mouth dropped open. I looked where she was looking and saw a huge blue van, Tyler Crowley's van, that was headed straight for my truck. My mouth dropped open too. I wanted to scream something, but I was too in shock.

The van smashed into my truck. My poor truck. It smashed the back and the truck completely flipped over, upside-down. I was so glad that Jessica bored me with the subject of the dance. Or else I would have been there, crushed. I stood there in shock and then took off running to the van. Tyler's van had knocked over on the driver's side. His car was sideways. He was trapped and couldn't get out. I suddenly began hyperventilating.

"Tyler? Tyler!" I heard people yelling and screaming as they all started running forward at the same time I did. Mike climbed on the car, to the door that was facing up and jerked it open.

"Tyler?" he asked. "You okay." I heard a muffled sound reply and Mike climbed into the van. I started having a panic attack while Jess called 911 on her new cell phone. The ambulance came, and he was taken to the hospital.

I got home that evening, after a much needed visit to the hospital with Jess to see Tyler, and finished my homework. There wasn't much tonight. Trig and English. I fixed Charlie baked steak for dinner and he asked for a full detailed story about the accident. I guess this was about as exciting as it gets in Forks right? Hah. Probably.

The next day, I woke up and Charlie was off duty today. That was surprising. So, I was able to eat breakfast with someone _there_ for once. Jess picked me up from school, since my truck wasn't wanting to start because of the accident. After being towed, the damage wasn't too bad, accept it wouldn't start. Charlie said he'd call Jacob to see if he would have a look at it. When I made it to school, everybody was in a large circle, surrounding something. Jess parked her car and we stepped out to find a used sentra. I couldn't understand why people were surrounding it though, it wasn't necessarily that great in my brain.

The crowd made a long space for Jess and I to go through and I saw Tyler. He was leaning against his door with a small smile on his face for me.

"Hi Bella," he said flirtatiously. I passed it up.

"Hey Tyler, so your okay?" I asked, my voice full of concern. I was really worried about him. He was in an accident for goodness sakes! Then I saw it. He was holding a red rose. Oh no. My eyes froze at it.

"Yeah," he replied and quickly changed the subject. "So, Bella, I was wondering-"

I cut him off. "Tyler, this is a Sadie Haw-"

He cut me off this time, holding up one finger. "Lemme finish. I was wondering if you would ask me to the Sadie Hawkins dance." He looked hopeful and I caught a glimpse of Mike Newton glaring at him. I scrambled for an excuse in my head, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I'm going to Seattle that weekend," I blurted out. "A much needed shopping trip, sorry." His smile faded for a second and then returned.

"That's okay, we still have prom," before I could say anything, he rested the rose in my bag and walked away. I stood there for a few seconds, frozen. After a few seconds, I turned around to walk away and noticed Lauren Mallory giving me the stink eye. I just shook it off and walked up to Jess, who was trying not to laugh.

"Wow, I didn't know you were going to Seattle," she challenged.

"Neither did I," I said back, irritation creeping up on me. I hated overly persistent people sometimes. She laughed and we walked to class.

"See ya later Bella," she called as she turned the corner to the history building. I walked in to find Eric sitting at his desk. A huge smile on his face as he saw me walk in. I groaned. He was always overly happy to see me.

"Well hello Bella," Eric said formally. I smiled and nodded, that was the best hello he was going to get out of me this morning.

"I was wondering if you would like to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me?" he somewhat asked, somewhat stated. I couldn't believe it. Another one? I looked up at him and used the same excuse.

"I'm going to Seattle that weekend, sorry Eric." His face fell.

"Oh." Frankly, I didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. I just needed to make it through the rest of the week and then all this dance nonsense would be over. The rest of the day went by slowly. Eric wouldn't talk to me. He seemed angry about it. He even snapped at me a little towards the end of English and he didn't sit with us at lunch.

Volleyball was done in gym. Now we were onto soccer. Great. Now I have to kick a ball. After gym, Mike walked with me to the biology building to meet up with Jess.

"Hey Bella," he said hesitantly. My insides froze up and my eyes locked on the ground. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?" I glared at the sidewalk.

"Isn't this supposed to be a Sadie Hawkins dance Mike? Girls ask boys?" I asked, highly upset now. This was the third one today. If a fourth came along, I'd punch them square in the face.

"Yeah I guess, but since nobody is asking me, I thought that maybe-"

"I'm going to Seattle on Saturday. I can't go any other day. I'm sorry. But just wait. I'm positive Jess is going to ask you." I said it all in mush and quickly because she walked out of the building then, smiling. Mike looked up at her. His expression was realization. Of course, because she never expressed a liking in him.

"Hey, Mike," she said, the same way that Tyler had said my name that morning. Then she shot me a devil look and I knew that I should slip away.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," I slurred my words together and turned towards the bathrooms faster than I would have otherwise. I stayed in there for about three minutes, enough for her to ask and him to say yes. I hope to God he would say yes. I stepped out of the bathroom to find her waiting for me, she was right in my face, smiling.

"He said yes!" she squealed. I smiled.

"Congratulations."

"I know right," she said yet again. They were good together. Like two peas in a pod. We heard someone talking to them self when we turned the corner to go back to the lot. It was Angela's shy and timid voice. We both stopped.

"I can do this," she said quietly. "I can do this, if he says no, it's no big deal. Not the end of the world."

"Ang?" Jess asked trying to fight a giggle. I shot her a dagger look, it wasn't nice to laugh at people. I heard her gasp and look over at us. She looked horrified.

"Awe, your going to ask Ben?" I asked sweetly, trying to reassure her that her secret was safe with us. They were so cute. She blushed furiously and looked down. Her curly locks falling down to cover her face.

"Hey Ben!" Jess yelled and Angela's eyes bulged out of her head.

"Jess!" she hissed. Jessica started laughing.

"Yeah?" he asked shyly.

"Angela here has something she wants to ask you." He glanced over to Angela and smiled. She was blushing ten different shades. She took a deep breath and look at him.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" she asked slightly too fast, but you could still make out the words. He smiled bigger and nodded.

"Yeah," he replied and she relaxed a little, still blushing. She looked over to Jess and gave her the 'I love you but I hate you' look and we walked away to give them some privacy. We talked some more and right before we climbed into Jessica's car Angela called our names.

"Jess! Bella!" she yelled. We both looked up. "Who are you guys going to the dance with?"

"I'm going with Mike. Bella doesn't want to go with anybody. She already turned two people down today." I grimaced and was glad that Mike hadn't told her about asking me, that way there would be no tension between us.

"Awe, Bella!" Angela whined only for a second. "Well will you at least come dress shopping with us in Port Angeles?" I sighed. I couldn't say no to Angela, plus Charlie would be glad to get me out of the house, some girl time.

"Yeah, sure."

"Tomorrow night?" Jessica suggested. Angela and I both nodded in satisfaction. "Then it's settled, dress shopping and we can get something to eat. Maybe even see a movie. A girls night." Angela waved goodbye and Jessica and I slid in the car. She squealed with excitement.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Bella! Jessica's on the phone!" Charlie called from downstairs, I was getting ready for the girls night with Jessica and Angela. I ran down the stairs and grabbed the phone.

"Hey Jess," I said out of breath.

"Hey Bella, I'm on my way to pick up Ang now," she said in a rush.

"Okay," I said. "I'll be ready."

"Bye!" She half yelled.

"Bye," I replied before clicking the end button on the phone. I ran back upstairs and opened my closet. Laying in the bottom was a purse that I hardly ever used, and that I decided would be useful to carry money. I checked myself in the mirror for a quick second. I was wearing jeans and a white tank top with a blue low cut shirt over top. This was probably the girliest thing that I'd worn since I'd moved to Forks. I threw the money in my purse along with a newly opened pack of gum.

I slowly walked downstairs and sat at the table, waiting for a honk. After about five more minutes a low honk came from outside.

"Bye Dad," I called as I headed out the door, not waiting for a response. I climbed in the back seat of her car and smiled. "Hey."

"Oh my gosh!" Jessica exclaimed. "I can't believe it. Our very own girls night! I've never been to one but I've always wondered. You know how things are on Gilmore Girls! This is great. I can't wait to get there." She kept rambling on as she pulled out of the drive way and headed off to Port Angeles.

The dress shop was a small, cute boutique and the dresses were very pretty. Angela and Jessica tried on numerous dresses. Jessica like two different kinds. One was black and strapless, the other was an odd electric blue color with small spaghetti straps. Angela and I both agreed with the blue. Angela liked a light pink color, sort of a dusty rose, also with spaghetti straps.

Next came shoes. Angela liked a clear strapy high heel, while also liking a sparkly silver. I encouraged the clear, it matched her dress better. Jessica decided on a pair exactly like the clear ones Angela had chosen, only black.

They found endless supplies of accessories and Jessica practically went crazy in that store. They figured out how they wanted to wear their hair and by the end of the shopping part of the night, I concluded, they both would look fabulous.

We decided to go to a cute little bookstore that we'd spotted on our way in. It wasn't too far away, so we just walked there. The books weren't all that interesting. Just a bunch of Native American and Quileute stuff. There was a bracelet that Jessica really liked, and she bought. Angela and I didn't want anything, so we left shortly after we arrived.

From there, we went to the restaurant. We realized that it was all the way on the other block. We found a small alleyway and started to walk down it as a short cut.

"I don't like this you guys," Angela stressed.

"Oh stop being such a cry baby," Jessica pestered her.

When we were about halfway through, three guys walked by the opening at the end, where we were headed. All three of us stopped dead in our track simultaneously. They obviously noticed us and backed up. I could here Angela's breathing speed up.

"Just turn around. Start walking away," Jessica whispered quietly.

"Hey hey hey!" one of the guys called.

"Where are you three pretty ladies headed too?" another one said, his words slurring together and becoming mush. We started walking faster. We turned the corner, another way to the other block.

"When I say 'Go', run," Jessica instructed. We kept walking, kept getting faster.

"Jess, I don't think that's a good idea. I'm very uncoordinated," I told her,_ my_ breathing becoming uneven this time. The creeps were still following us, and they were getting closer.

Just then, four more guys emerged from the corner and Angela started sobbing. This had to be planned or something. They formed a circle around us. We were trapped. The guys that had just come started throwing beer to the others. All the sudden, Jessica kneed one of the guys 'where the sun don't shine' and punched another directly in the nose. There was no doubt about it that she had learned self-defense.

Two guys were down and there was an opening, so Jessica grabbed our hands and we took off running.

"This was _so_ not a day for flip flops," Jessica complained as we ran. I looked back and two guys were chasing us. I wasn't watching where I was going and I pummeled directly into the ground. Face first. One of the guys got a hold of my ankle. The other grabbed Jessica. Well, that was a mistake for him. Jessica elbowed the guy in the stomach and then in the face. By now the guy that had me was pulling me along with him. Before I had a chance to attempt to defend myself, Angela straightforward kicked him in the shin and then fisted him in the gut. He doubled over in pain, releasing me.

All three of us took off running, not exactly caring where we were headed, as long as we were away from them. All of us spotted Jessica's car at the same time. We ran towards it and jumped in. Jessica was already heading down the road before my door was even shut.

"That was the scariest thing that has ever happened in my life!" Jessica gasped, in between breaths. Angela and I both nodded our heads furiously. Jessica blazed her music so loud that it was hurting my ears, all three of us were singing to the songs at the top of our lungs. We probably looked like idiots, but I didn't care, as long as we were out of Port Angeles.

Eventually she turned the music down and we stopped singing. Once we got to Forks, she pulled into the parking lot of a familiar diner that Charlie and I used to go to on my monthly visits. It wasn't until Jessica said "We'll just eat here," that I realized my stomach was growling.

We took our time to walk into the diner, no need to rush anymore. They were gone. The diner was old, and looked like something that you would find in the Broadway musical of _Grease_. We slid into a bright red booth. An older woman, who was pregnant, walked up to us with a small tablet for our orders. She had short black hair and the Native American skin, like Billy's.

"And what can I get you young ladies?" She asked politely.

"I'll just have a coke with a cheeseburger and some waffle fries," Angela said quietly. The waitress smiled and scribbled it on the notepad. She then turned to me.

"Same," I sighed and looked at Jessica. Jessica was still looking at the menu.

"Um. The garden salad, low fat ranch dressing," The waitress nodded. "A water with no lemon too," she added. I stared at her for a moment and rolled my eyes.

"No, she'll have the same as us," I told the waitress. Jessica shot me an evil look.

"Excuse me?" she said angrily.

"Jess," I said. "Live a little. Eat some carbs," Jessica grimaced at the mention of carbs and sighed furiously.

"Fine," she grumbled angrily. I smiled in satisfaction.

"Anything else?" The waitress asked. I glanced at her nametag, Sheila.

"No, that's all. Thank you," Jessica replied and then turned to glare at me again. Sheila turned and walked away. I snickered at Jessica's furious expression.

"Jess," I whispered. "We could have been kidnapped, or raped, or whatever was going through their gross minds. Eat some." Just then the waitress brought us our cokes and we sipped on them silently. Finally, Jessica asked a question that I had been pondering on for a while.

"So are we going to tell anybody about what happened tonight?" I looked over to Angela, then back to Jessica.

"I don't think I will," I stated. "Charlie would hunt every guy in Port Angeles and question them about there whereabouts. I think it's best that we don't."

"Same," Angela agreed. "My parents wouldn't let me out of the house for months." I eyed Jessica, and she looked like she was thinking really hard about something.

"Bella," she said skeptically. Oh boy.

"Yes?"

"Who exactly do you like?" she asked curiously. "I mean, you turned down two guys. Tyler Crowley is perfectly fine. Why didn't you just go with him?" I was afraid of this with Jessica. I loved her, but she was very into sharing everything personal.

"I don't like anybody, I can't dance at all. I would just embarrass myself if I went. Besides, I'm not too into that whole boyfriend thing, I've never had one." Jessica's chin lost its slack and dropped.

"Never?!" She yelled surprised.

"Never," I confirmed and nodded.

"Except now you do," Angela said. My head snapped to the left to look at her.

"What?" I yelled, people stared.

"Tyler, remember. You two are going to prom together."

"Um, no! He wouldn't even let me say anything after he talked about prom! We are NOT going together!" I shrieked. How dare he.

"Wow." Just then, our food came. We ate quietly. Talking about random things, like the Trig test on Friday, or something that had happened in lunch that day. I mostly focused on my food, I was so hungry. Jessica dropped me off at my house and then left.

"See you tomorrow Bella!" Jessica and Angela yelled out of the window in unison. I waved until they were out of sight. When I came inside, I heard Charlie's snoring. He must have stayed down here to wait for me.

"Dad, I'm home," I called. I walked into the living room and his snores stuttered a bit and he jumped.

"Oh, hey Bella," he mumbled incoherently. "How was your night?"

"Fine," I answered.

"Oh, well, okay then."

"I'm going to bed now, see you in the morning." I climbed up the stairs and slipped into my old holey sweats. I decided to check my e-mail before I went to sleep. Renee was probably worried. I only had one from her. That was surprising.

Bella,

How is school going? I talked to Charlie and he said that there's a dance on Saturday. Are you going? You should go, get out of the house. Have some fun. Your going to love Jacksonville. Email me soon.

I rolled my eyes, of course Charlie had to tell her about the dance. The last thing I needed was for my overbearing mother to be on my back about boys and dancing.

Mom,

School is fine. No, I'm not going to the dance. I'm going to Seattle instead. I went to Port Angeles with Jess and Ang tonight. They went dress shopping. I had fun. Forks isn't so bad. Yeah, I'm sure I'll love Jacksonville. Love, Bella.

I sent the email and shut down my ancient computer. That should satisfy her for a few days.

I crawled into bed and closed my eyes. I was out in mere seconds. That was the best nights sleep that I'd had since I'd moved to Forks.

**AN: I loved writing this. I wanted to put on how much of a danger magnet Bella is, but since Edward isn't here, he didn't save her. So I'm making her closer to Jessica and Angela. Also, and this is a spoiler for the future, I wanted to ask your opinions on something. Do you think that I should have Jacob give her a puppy? Sort of as the ironic(ness) of things. If I do, then it'll have wolf-jacob's features. This is all. Hasta Luega -jenny(=**

**p.s. I've been thinking about this disclaimer thing. I don't own it. I'm just a silly fourteen year old girl who likes to write stories. No twilight owners here, that's all Stephenie Meyer. Buy! -- Hah!**


	5. Riot

Chapter 3: Riot

Charlie finally called Jacob. He was coming down to look at my truck Saturday. So my mission to escape during the dance was failed. Though, I got to hang out with Jacob, which would be okay.

I woke up at around nine o'clock and he was already there, in the living room with Charlie and Billy. I carefully walked down the stairs. I was a mess. My hair was in a sloppy pony tail, now to the side because of the sleep and I was wearing a tank top instead of my usual sweatshirt last night because I got hot. Jacob jumped up as soon as I was in the kitchen.

"Hey Bella," he said cheerfully. I smiled at him.

"Hi Jacob." He was always so happy and it wasn't that annoying, flirty happiness. It was genuine happiness. I liked that. I grabbed a box of Apple Jacks and a bowl. "You want some?" I asked. He shook his head no.

"So how's school going?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Same as always," he replied, still cheerful.

"Quil got any girlfriends?" I asked humorously. He shook his head no.

"Surprisingly, not. He said he's going to try for Forks girls now," Jacob rolled his eyes at his friends craziness. I laughed.

After breakfast, I decided to get dressed, Jacob waiting for me down stairs. I pulled on jeans and an old t-shirt, incase he needed help with the car.

He didn't.

He was so good with his hands. Combing through the parts carefully, I was almost jealous at how much patience and precision he had. Every once in a while he'd have me pass him a tool. Other than that, everything was okay.

"That should do it," he said as he rolled out from under the car. We both slid in on either side and I put the key in the ignition to start it. It ran better than it had before. Wow.

"You truly are amazing Jacob Black," I marveled. He shrugged.

"It's nothing," he replied. It was something.

"Hmm, what do you say we go to La Push. See your friends. My treat, I can't just let you completely fix my car and give you nothing," I offered, hoping he'd take it. I didn't want to be rude.

"Okay, sure. Quil will be so happy to meet you," he guffawed. "A new girl!"

I drove down to La Push, the radio playing quietly in the background. He asked me questions about my new friends and about how school was going.

"You know I'm not the only one who has to keep up their grades around here," he complained. I smiled.

"Yes, but nobody needs to worry about my straight-A report card, now do they?" I said back, trying not to sound too conceited. He rolled his eyes and waved his hand.

"Sure, sure."

We made it to La Push around noon and he asked me to stop at a small, long blue house. It was cute, like a little cottage. The landscaping around it was lovely. A woman was out working on the small garden. It wasn't until then that I'd noticed that it was exceptionally warm today. She looked up once I cut the engine. Jacob jumped out of the car and ran up to the woman. The windows were rolled down so I could here their conversation.

"Hi Jacob," she said, still eying my truck.

"Hey, is Embry in today?"

"Yeah, he's right in the-"

"Hey Jacob!" She was cut off by a tall boy who looked much like Jacob, only his hair was about below his ears, and he was slightly shorter.

"Hey, you wanna come down the beach with me and Bella?" Jacob asked smiley, his thumb pointing towards me. Embry looked over at me. His eyes wandered to Jacob back to me, then to Jacob again and a slow smile spread across his face. "We're getting Quil too," Jacob added, as to persuade him more.

Embry looked at the woman in the garden, who was now watching me, not my truck. "Mom?" he asked. "Can I go?" She jumped and looked up at him.

"Oh, yes, yes. Of course, have fun sweetie," she replied a little too eagerly. Embry leaned down to give his mom a swift kiss on the cheek and followed Jacob back to my car. Embry hoped in the back and Jacob in the front with me again. There was a small window behind our heads that was open.

"Bella, Embry. Embry, Bella," Jacob introduced us and Embry smiled at me.

"Next is Quil's I'm guessing," I half-asked, half stated. Jacob nodded. This time, we pulled up to a small cream colored house that looked much like the rest of the houses on the street. Jacob hopped out of the truck again, and he came out with who I was assuming was Quil, a few seconds later.

He looked older than the others. He had a buzz cut and well-developed muscles, he seemed proud of this fact. He leaped in the back with Embry, sticking his head through the little back window.

"I'm Quil," he said smoothly.

"I'm Bella," I mused. He winked at me and I giggled. "Where to now Jacob?" I asked, hoping that it was to the beach. It was. We walked around some, Quil constantly flirting and Embry not talking much. We went to Jacobs old homemade shed. Him, Quil, and Embry decided to work on his rabbit, a car that he was working on, building from scratch. Jacob and Quil were in the middle of an animated story about how, unthinkingly, Quil asked out a senior's girlfriend and was nearly killed from it, when my phone buzzed.

I looked at the caller ID that read JESS. I sighed. Outfit problems.

"Hey, I gotta take this, can you be quiet?" I asked politely. They all nodded and smiled. "Thanks." I hit the answer button and before I even got the phone up to my ear, Jessica was talking a mile a minute about something with earrings and pudding.

"Mike loves pudding and fireflies. I was thinking of either using little pudding cup dangly earrings, or maybe the fireflies. I can't deci-"

"Jess!" I yelled, she stopped abruptly. "I really don't think pudding cup earrings will be very attractive." She started sobbing.

"Bellllllla! I need you now!" she whined. I sighed.

"Jess, I'm kind of busy right no-"

"Please Bella, I'll do anything for you. I just need you. Pleeeeeease!" She begged. I sighed again.

"Hold on a second," I turned to the boys with a sheepish smile. "You guys mind if I make a side trip to my friends house? She needs help with her earring choice." The all shrugged, which I took as a yes. I put my mouth back in the phone. "Okay-" I couldn't finish my sentence before I received a never ending line of thank you's. "Wait, Jess. I'm not finished. I'm with a few guys from La Push right now, so I'm going to bring them with me."

"Okay, okay. I don't care, just get here." Before I could reply, she hung up. I grimaced at the phone. I turned around, hopeful to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry you guys, it shouldn't take that long," I promised them. They all nodded and we walked back to my truck. Once inside the truck, they finished the story.

We made it to Jessica's house around seven thirty and she opened the door to glare at me.

"When I say, 'I need you now' that means NOW!" she screamed. Oh gosh. What did I get myself into? I never knew that she was like this. I never knew she was crazy.

"I'm sorry, but we had to walk all the way back to my truck." She noticed the _'we'_ and the glare disappeared from her face. She looked at all three of them who were huddled together, behind me, looking scared. Quil smiled and winked at her. She blushed and giggled. Something about Quil made girls do that a lot, I assumed.

"This is Quil, Jacob, and Embry," I told her, pointing to each of them as I said their names.

"Come on inside and make yourselves comfortable," she offered, mostly to Quil. He very much enjoyed that. She turned towards me and grabbed my hand, dragging me up her stairs.

"So what about pudding earrings?" I asked questioningly.

"Well, Mike really likes pudding. It's his favorite snack, so I decided to buy pudding earrings a few months ago to impress him. I've been afraid to wear them."

I shook my head. "Don't wear them," I told her. "You'll just look ridiculous. She furrowed her eyebrows together.

"What does Quil like?" She asked flirtatiously.

"Girls," I answered. She giggled.

"He's cute," she whispered. I rolled my eyes. He wasn't bad.

"He's a freshman."

"So," she shrugged. "He's still cute."

"Show me your jewelry?" I asked. She nodded and smiled, pulling out a small silver jewelry box and opening it. Inside were all different kinds of necklaces and earrings. I told her to go with no earrings and suggested a ruby necklace, for color contrast. She was all ready. Her electric blue dress would definitely play up the eyes and the ruby necklace added color, and the eyes would follow it. He hair was curled and half up. As I'd predicted, she looked gorgeous.

She was aware of this too. She walked me down the stairs, hoping to run into Quil again. She did. His mouth dropped when he saw her, she pretended like she didn't notice.

She narrowed her eyes at me once we were downstairs. "It doesn't look like your in Seattle."

"I am in spirit," I confirmed. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She waved as we all walked out. We climbed in my truck and Jacob looked at me suspiciously.

"Why aren't you going to the dance, did nobody ask you?" he asked curiously.

"Actually, three people asked me. I didn't want to go, I can't dance," I replied honestly, shrugging. He smiled a mischievous grin.

"What do you say we go together?" I was about to object when he interjected and finished his thought. "Embry and Quil too, we could get more people and crash the prom."

I liked his thought, this wasn't the Jacob that I was used to, he was being dangerous. I slowly nodded, to make sure he wasn't joking. My grin matched his after a minute.

"Okay," I agreed. "But you can't force me to dance." He held his pinky finger out in the air and it took me a second to grasp what he wanted. Pinky promise.

I had to drive them all back to their houses, so they could dress half way decent. Unfortunately, Embry couldn't go, he had to baby-sit his little sister. His mom had a date, Embry made a disgusted face when he thought of it. I took Jacob and Quil back to my place. They ate some of my food and I dressed myself as nice as possible, for me.

Before we left, I examined ourselves. Jacob was wearing jeans and a white button up shirt, with a tie that hung loosely around his neck. Quil was wearing a white t-shirt, with a dark blue button up shirt over top, and jeans. No tie. I wore blue jeans and a dark purple tank top. It made me look paler, edgier. I laughed darkly at myself, Bella Swan, chief Swans daughter, a troublemaker. Right.

The dance had started a half hour ago, so at least there would be no big entrance. I pulled up in the lot and we all jumped out. You could here the music blasting from the speakers, we walked in. The teachers expressions had _troublemakers_ written all over them. I laughed.

"I'm paying for three please," I said quietly. The girl who looked up was named Morgan Stewart. She marveled at the tall, muscular boys behind me and gave me the tickets, without taking her eyes off Jacob. I felt a pang inside my stomach and I wondered what it was, but I ignored it.

When we walked into the actual dancing area, everybody stared at us, I blushed. They both flanked on either side of me, Quil on my right, Jacob on my left.

"Bella!" Jessica yelled from behind me. I turned around to see her standing there on Mike's arm. She saw Jacob and raised one of her eyebrows. I shook my head and looked to the right. Quil disappeared. I searched for him and found that he was talking to a small group of girls who were turning into putty at his feet.

Immediately, he took one of them out to the dance floor and danced with them. I rolled my eyes and turned to Jacob.

"He's such a player," I whispered loud enough that he could hear over the blaring music. Jacob nodded in agreement. I turned back to Jessica and caught Tyler out of the corner of my eye staring Jacob down, he was with Lauren. Jacob and I mostly hung around by the concessions and talked some. Quil was out on the dance floor with almost half the girls. Lauren tried to flirt with him, but he picked Lisa Elwood instead, Lauren was horrified.

By the end of the night, Jessica was in Quil's arms, Lauren was pouting in a corner, Angela and Ben had disappeared and Morgan had asked Jacob to dance with her at the last dance. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he danced with her, only first warned her that he was a terrible dancer. She only giggled and blushed at his modesty.

Honestly, he wasn't being modest. He was terrible, but so was she, so it didn't matter. That sharp pain was back in my stomach when I saw them. I pushed it to the side of my brain again and focused on watching Quil and Jessica.

"You want to dance?" I heard Mike's voice ask behind me. "My date sort of bailed." He pointed to Jessica and I wanted to laugh, but I held it in. Thankfully, the song ended, so I wouldn't have to hurt his feelings.

"Sorry," I apologized, not really trying hard to be sincere about it.

Jacob said goodbye to the girl he was dancing with and I walked with him to find Quil. When we found him, he was kissing Jessica in a corner. My mouth dropped and I coughed. They both stopped and looked up, Jessica giggling. I raised my eyebrows at her and she blushed and looked down.

"I think we should get going," Jacob coughed out, trying hard not to laugh. Quil smiled and looked at Jessica.

"I'll see you later beautiful," he told her quietly. She blushed and giggled again. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and she whispered something in his ear, shoving a piece of paper in his shirt pocket, probably her number.

By then, the doors were almost completely cleared out and we could get by without me feeling claustrophobic. I looked over to Quil.

"So, you got a thing for Jessica, or is she another one of those silly girls you just mess around with?"

"I really like her, she was nice, and didn't expect much," he said. I couldn't tell whether he was lying or not, so I turned to Jacob, he had his eyebrows raised to Quil.

"You really like this girl," Jacob stated more that questioned. Quil only shrugged.

"Good, because she's my friend, and no hurting my friends," I threatened and he smiled.

"Of course not."

I looked at the time on my phone and it said that it was twelve fifteen in the morning. I began to feel my eyelids droop. I wasn't going to be able to make it all the way to La Push like this.

"Hey Jacob, Quil, you think you could bunk in the living room tonight?" I asked. "I'm not sure I can make it to La Push."

"Yeah!" Quil hollered. "Sleepover!" I looked at him funny and drove home. Charlie, of course, had no problem with it, he was just happy that I was having fun. He would probably tell this to Renee and then she would ask for every detail, especially the _boy_ part of the line.

I decided to stay down there with them, to keep them company. They watched a little television. Of course, by one they were both out. I fell asleep within ten minutes after them, thinking of that little pang I felt inside my stomach, with no way of pushing it away from my mind anymore.

**AN: What do you think that little pang in her stomach is? Guess, guess, guess! So, Quil and Jessica? "**_**Poor Mike!"**_** (NOT, you'll see why later). I tried to put a little bit of Alice inside her, since Alice isn't in this story for real (sad face). I also decided to put in a little bit of wolfy Jacob, since he doesn't get that edgy personality, I'll just make him funny-edgy. Sorry if it's not completely in character, I tried to a little. Again, I don't own this stuff. …merci -jenny[= p.s. I also wanted to ask, what type of dog should Jacob get her. I'm not sure what dog has reddish-brown fur. lol. tell meh pleasee :D.**


	6. Weekend

**I am more sorry than I ever have been to anyone ever! I have been so busy. Finals are in two weeks and that research paper was due Tuesday. Then of course cheerleading tryouts. I'll really try to update sooner! **

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 4: Weekend

I hadn't had the best nights sleep ever. In the beginning, Quil and Jacob took up most of the living room, but then they took all the blankets. I was freezing and cramped up against a loveseat, on my stomach, and I could hardly breathe.

In another situation, I would have quietly stood up and left the room, to the comfort of my own bed. Only this wasn't an option.

Quil's arm had miraculously moved right over my back, pinning me to the floor, and boy was his arm heavy. I tried every possible thing to wake him.

I began with saying his name, nothing. I tickled his nose and blew in his face, nothing. I straight poked him in the eye and he still didn't budge. In any other case scenario, I would have thought he was dead, only his loud snoring made me extremely aware of the fact that he was alive.

Finally, after counting to two thousand, the sun came up and I heard Jacob groan, noting that he was awake.

"Jacob," I whispered. He didn't say anything. "Jacob, you awake?" I saw he face peer over Quil and he looked at me. He grinned.

"Little stuck Bella?" he asked, enjoying this. I glared up at him.

"Please, just move his arm, you don't need to wake him." Jacob sighed and effortlessly lifted Quil's arm out of the way for me to jump up and hop onto the loveseat that I was sleeping against.

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"Hmm," he said, pretending to think about something. "I have an idea, how about you make it up to me with breakfast?" Like I would say no.

I smiled at him, "okay."

I tried to jump over Quil, which didn't necessarily work as planned. I tripped over his leg and I closed my eyes to feel the pain of the carpet burn on my face, but I didn't fall. Instead, two arms caught me and helped me stand upright. It was Jacob.

"Well, looks like I owe you another one," I told him, sending him _thank-you's_ with my eyes. I was blushing furiously at his warm touch. He shrugged.

"Don't worry about it Bells," he replied, amused. "You couldn't walk over a flat surface, nobody expects you to walk over a person." I glared playfully at him, and he flashed me his very Jacoby smile. I walked into the kitchen and he followed behind me, Quil still snoring in the background.

He looked like he was trying to think of a way to word something.

"You know," he started. "I think Embry likes you." That surprised me, he hardly talked when we hung out the day before. "I mean, he never talks to girls like he does you."

"Isn't he a little young for me?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. Jacob shrugged.

"Only by a year and a few months," he replied.

"Yeah, but think of the maturity level of girls," I said leveling my right hand up. "And boys," I leveled my left hand down. "Doesn't that make me like, twelve years older?" Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Hey now, if you're gonna be like that, we're gonna have to knock off ten years for you," he told me, grinning.

"Why?"

"You're so short, I could rest my arm on your head," he explained, as he did so. I scowled at him.

"It's not my fault you're a freak," I told him, swatting his arm away from my head. I searched the refrigerator for some cooking supplies and came out with eggs, bacon, sausage, and cheese. The ultimate breakfast.

I fixed about fifteen omelets, (for Charlie too), and twenty-five pieces of bacon and sausage. I only fixed four slices of toast. Jacob served himself and took a bite of my special recipe eggs, and he smiled at me.

"Okay," he said while still stuffing his face. "You get five years for this." I grinned.

"That means I'm twenty-four, now Embry's _way_ to young for me," I told him jokingly. His smiling face crumpled into a frown. I heard Quil groan then and he walked through the open space into the kitchen. He looked dazed, like he couldn't see anything. But he could obviously smell, because after a few sniffs, a large smile spread across his face. The daze was gone.

"Wow Bella! Thanks," he exclaimed like it was the best thing since toilet paper. He fixed his plate and turned to Jacob. "You going down to help Sam move into his new place?" Jacob shrugged.

"Yeah, probably," Jacob replied smugly. He made a disgusted face. "This is just gonna make things worse, Leah will be over there 24*7." Quil shrugged and nodded his head in agreement.

"Leah Clearwater?" I asked curiously. Leah Clearwater was a year older than me, but she was a still only a junior. She was my dad's fishing buddy, Harry's, daughter. He has a son too, Seth.

Jacob nodded, "yeah."

"Whose Sam?"

"Sam Uley, he's Leah's boyfriend. They're really public about their relationship. But they're good together, so I guess it's just meant to be, ya know," Quil answered for me.

I nodded and sighed. So much for hanging out with the guys again today. A smile crept across my face, I liked the sound of that. _Bella and the guys_. I held in the snort that I was about to make, so they wouldn't be suspicious.

"Sam probably won't do anything, him and Leah will be making googly eyes the whole time," Jacob complained again.

"Unless," Quil intervened, pointing a finger at me. "You come with us and kept Leah occupied." I played it off coolly.

"Sure, I guess," I said as I shrugged.

I realized that Charlie didn't come down to eat breakfast, because he'd left early this morning to go fishing with Harry. I scraped the last of the food off my plate and stood up to dump the rest.

"You think Sam or Leah would want any of this?" I asked gesturing towards the skillets and pans. Quil shook his head.

"Nah, Leah cooks well enough." I sighed and threw the rest of it out.

When we arrived to the house, it was small, but cute. A tall man, that looked much like Jacob and Quil, only taller, walked out with a girl on his arm.

"Hey you guys," The guy that I assumed was Sam said.

"Hey," Jacob and Quil mumbled. The couple looked over to me and then back at Jacob. I hadn't realized that I was practically leaning on him. I took a small step sideways to confirm that Jacob and I were just friends.

"This is Bella," Jacob announced. "Charlie's daughter. Bella," he turned to me. "This is Sam, and Leah." He gestured towards them as he said their names.

"Hi," I said shyly. Leah bounded up to me, all the while never letting go of Sam who flew with her as she came.

"Hey," she said excitedly. "You should come up to Port Angeles with me today, I'm going to see a movie with a few girls from school."

"Um, yeah. Okay," I agreed. I was actually sort of terrified to go back to Port Angeles, but what were the odds that I would run into those creeps again?

I saw what Quil and Jacob meant about the googly eyes, Sam and Leah wouldn't stop as we waited for her friends.

When they finally came, Sam and Leah had an emotional goodbye and we settled into the car. "Bella, this is Emily, Kim, and Elizabeth." She pointed to each of them. I waved. All four of them were beautiful. Long black hair, dark brown eyes. Thin, tall. It was unfair.

About half-way through the ride Leah broke the chatter between the other three girls. "Hey Bella," all of them looked at me then.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Do you like Jacob?" This made each of the girls listen in closer. My throat felt thick and I blushed about ten different shades of red.

"No," I stuttered. "What makes you think that?" I asked. Leah smiled.

"I don't know, guess it was just the way you looked at him." The rest of the ride was quiet and I couldn't help but think of her question. I couldn't. Jacob was cute and everything, but very, young. Two years younger.

**I know this one was short, and again I'm sorry about the wait. But I will definitely update sooner. Also, I figured that I would explain myself. In the book, Port Angeles was chapter 8, where as here, it was chapter 2. So time is moving by faster. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do another story, like a sequel, so I'm trying to get her graduated faster. And I get all of these perfect and great ideas, that I start writing them and forget that I have to finish writing this chapter. Just to say, I've already got the Epilogue written, and the part where she realizes she's in love with Jacob. Anyways, thanks for waiting for my story. I love you guys. (and I hope you still love me!) (*hopefulnesses*) -jenny.**


	7. Complications

_Since you all hate me now, I don't expect you to read this. But it would be tremendously appreciated if you did. Finals started Friday, and tryouts started Sunday. Even though that is absolutely NO EXCUSE for the, like, three weeks before that! -sigh- Anyway. I love you all and I hope you still love me [but I'm pretty positive you don't, since this is the third freaking time in a row]! Hope you enjoy; if you do read it. Loves…_

_***_

Chapter 5: Complications

Weekdays were hard for me, being away from the beach, the sun, that I'd now grown so attuned to over the past few weeks. It was nowhere near anything close to Arizona, but it was close enough for me.

It was strange, having friends. In Phoenix, I didn't have any friends. I wasn't incredibly social. Which is why I thought that if I couldn't find friends in a school with three-thousand students, then how could I have found friends with four-hundred?

Regardless, I had friends. Most of them lived in La Push though. In school, there was Angela and Jessica, and with Angela came Ben, with Jessica came Mike. Tyler was still infatuated with me as well. With clearly pissed Lauren off.

On the reservation, there was Jacob, Quil, and Embry. Along with Kim, Leah, Emily, and Elizabeth. Seth tagged along a lot too, because of Jacob. He really admired him, it was adorable.

The final bell for school to end rang and I jumped out of my seat and headed for my truck.

"Hey Bella, wait up!" Jessica yelled. I turned around to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies with Angela and me on Friday. Ben's coming, and you could bring Jacob and Quil, and that other one." I laughed at her attempt to remember Embry's name.

"What movie? They won't want to see a chick flick," I told her. Quil wouldn't want to see a chick flick, I added mentally, for Jessica's sake.

"Um, actually. I'm not sure. Isn't there that new scary movie out? Ah, _Crosshairs_?" I smiled, that was perfect for them.

"Yeah, that'll be great!" I enthused, she smiled. I knew she was only doing this for Quil.

A lot of me was actually surprised that she liked Quil. I thought she was really into her social status, and dating a freshman would really bring that down. I turned to walk away, when Jessica grabbed my arm.

"Okay, look. I'm going to be straight forward with you. I want to make Quil jealous, and I need Jacob to do it," she told me, blushing furiously. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Why not Embry?" I asked.

"Because Embry isn't Jacob. Oh, come one Bella! Jacob is totally gorgeous, just like Quil. And yeah, Embry's cute too, but he's not Jacob." I raised my eyebrows at her and she sighed in irritation. "Can you just talk to Jacob for me?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I'm not so sure he'll do it." She looked grateful.

"Thank you so much!" she squealed, hugging me tightly and then turned to her Mercury.

I headed to La Push, which was my usual afternoon activity, to pick up Jacob. Quil and Embry had to work at the store on Monday's and Wednesday's, so they walked there, since it was only about a five minute walk.

"Hey Bells!" he said cheerfully as he threw his bag in the bed of the truck and climbed in the passenger seat. I grinned at him.

"Hi," I replied. "So, how was school?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"Same old, same old." I suddenly remembered Jessica's request and a knot formed in my stomach.

"Do you want to go to the movies this weekend with some of the kids from Forks? Ah, Jessica and Angela will be there. Angela's bringing her boyfriend, and that usually means Austin, and then Jessica wants Quil there. Then Embry and Jared can come. With Kim and Leah and Sam, even Elizabeth." I said it all too fast, so most of it was mush. Jacob looked like he was questioning my sanity.

"Yeah, sure," he replied simply without a second thought.

"There's a catch," I told him and he froze, narrowing his eyes at me.

"What?" he asked slowly.

"Well, Jessica wants to make Quil jealous, so she wants you to be her date." This came out slower. He stared at me for a few seconds, and then pursed his lips, and looked forward. I let out a big breath and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess." I released the breath that I was holding, relieved that I didn't have to break bad news to Jessica, she tended to go a little overboard with the dramatic stuff.

"Okay, we're gonna see _Crosshairs_." Jacob snorted.

"She was trying to get a Quil-Friendly movie wasn't she?" he asked.

"I told her no chick flicks and this is what she said."

"Okay, well I guess that I'm Jessica's date," Jacob said in-between laughs. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't like that too well.

Angela came up with the flu, and Ben didn't feel right going without her. It was Sam and Leah's one year anniversary, so they turned down the offer. Kim was coming, to keep me company and I talked Jacob into getting Jared there. Jessica was the planner, and she was coming. Quil came too, but Embry couldn't come, he was grounded for sneaking out. So, that was our group to the movies.

Jessica's Mercury pulled into the driveway about five minutes after Jared's moms Van. We all rode with Jared, it was cramped, due to Jacob, Quil, and Jared's height, but it was bigger than the Mercury would have been. Halfway there, Jacob groaned.

"Why are you driving so slow?"

"I don't want to be responsible for crashing this car, my mom would kill me," Jared answered. His driving was even slower than me in my truck.

"Couldn't you at least go a little bit faster?" Quil asked.

"No," Jared growled angrily. I rolled my eyes and looked at Kim, she was smiling at Jared. I basically pushed her into the front seat, Jacob and Jessica sitting next to each other, and Quil and I.

Quil didn't try anything, which I was extremely grateful of. I wasn't entirely sure of how I would approach it.

Because of Jared's crazy slow driving, we made it ten minutes late to the movie.

"Way to go man," Quil complained. Jared rolled his eyes.

"Oh no!" he said sarcastically. "Now we can't see the first ten minutes of blood and guts!"

Jessica glanced at me hopefully and I gave her an encouraging smile. She excused herself to the bathroom, most likely to freshen up. Kim and Jared were collecting the tickets, so Jacob, Quil, and I were waiting outside the bathroom for Jessica.

"I really gotta piss," Quil said. I made a face.

"Not all of us needed to know that dude," Jacob told him. Quil rolled his eyes and slipped into the men's bathroom. I found this as an exceptionally good opportunity to talk to Jacob, so I turned to him.

"Do anything Jess wants you to," I told him softly. "Just remember, it's for Quil." Jacob rolled his eyes.

"What? You think I don't got skills?" Jacob asked. I laughed out loud.

"Oh I know you don't have skills," I pointed my finger at him as saying this.

"Bella?" I heard Jessica call from the bathroom.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Come in here please." I gave Jacob my best _'threatening'_ look and turned for the bathroom. As soon as I stepped in, Jessica was looking in the mirror, basically having a panic attack.

"Jess! What's wrong?" I ran to her the best I could without falling.

"I-I-I'm n-n-nervous," she stuttered out. This surprised me. Jessica always seemed more of the outgoing never nervous type of girl.

"Jess, there's nothing to be nervous about," I promised her and she looked up at me.

"Quil. Is. Out. There."

"I know, I know," I said. "So is everyone else. Don't think about him being out there, focus on the movie, or I don't know, Jacob and Jared's muscles." Her face turned to mush as I said this. I imagined it, her during the movie sneaking sideways glances towards Jacob all night. I sighed, shaking my head, that's exactly what would happen.

"Okay," she said with a smile starting at the corners of her mouth. I rolled my eyes, _she's so hormonal_.

We exited the bathroom, trailing back to the group, who was waiting by the ticket stand. "Sorry," Jessica told Jacob directly, trying hard to ignore Quil. Jacob shrugged.

"No big deal," Jacob replied with his big Jacoby smile. I felt a poke, not the unusual pang, but now it was an unusual poke, in my stomach and suddenly realized that I liked that smile, a lot. No, I was kidding myself, I loved that smile. The way Jacob lit up a room just by smiling, and the way the smile could bring any frown upside-down. It showed he was sincere and playful, his smile reminded me of a dog, a puppy. Only bigger.

Since we had bathroom breaks and little chats, we were now twenty-five minutes late. I was starting to wonder if it was even worth it, then I remembered that Jared had already bought the tickets, so it was best to just go.

We walked in, with Kim and Jessica talking louder than we had in the lobby. People began glaring at us and we climbed the stares all the way to the back row. The row was pretty obvious. Kim, Jared, Quil, me, Jacob, and Jessica (who was terrified). About ten minutes into the movie, Jacob started laughing, along with Jared and Quil.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked. Jacob shrugged and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Oh, c'mon!" he said between small chuckles. "The blood squirted twenty feet out of that guy. How fake can you get?"

As I watched the show, I started laughing too. Not before long, Jessica and Kim joined in. People were staring at us through the entire movie, but we couldn't stop laughing. Before we even had a chance to calm down, the lights flickered on and the credits began rolling.

We were the last ones to leave the theater. As we were walking towards the front doors, Jared grunted.

"I gotta take a whiz," he commented. "Be out in a sec."

As soon as he was out of earshot, both Jessica and I turned to Kim. "Okay, so what's the deal?" I asked. You could see her blush through her copper skin.

"What do you mean?" she replied innocently. Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't give me that," Jessica argued. "We know you love him. What happened with the movie?" Kim blushed again and looked towards Jacob and Quil.

"Oh, right. We'll talk later," Jessica promised. "Stay over at my house?" she turned towards me. "Both of you?" Kim nodded.

"I'll have to ask my mom, but I'm sure it'll be fine." They both turned to me.

"Charlie will be happy I'm hanging out with girls," I laughed. "I gotta stop and get my stuff, but that's it." After I said the words, my mind wandered into sleepover mode. Oh no. What had I gotten myself into?

The ride back to Forks was quiet, and like before, took extra long because of Jared's driving. When we _finally_ reached my house, my eyelids were starting to feel heavy. I gathered my clothes, shoving them into my school bag.

"I'm staying at Jess's tonight, that okay?" I asked Charlie. He looked up from the game and smiled.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm probably going to go down to Billy's in the morning anyway." I nodded.

"'Kay, I'll be back by three tomorrow afternoon." I kissed him on the cheek and stepped outside. I turned the corner to Jessica's car and walked up to them. "I'm ready," I announced. Jessica smiled and winked at me, so nobody could see. She didn't give me enough time to realize what she was doing until she did it.

She leaned over, grabbed Jacob's face, and kissed him. I mean _really kissed_ him. I froze in an immediate position, watching them. Jacob's eyes popped wide open and he looked nervous. They closed again and his hands made their way to her waste, pulling her closer. _Closer_.

That's when I felt it, the jolt of anger that rocked through me at the sight of them near each other. This feeling was unfamiliar and it scared me. I wanted to march straight up to Jessica and rip her face off as angry as I was, but I couldn't do it, I didn't have the physical ability to move.

I took a sideways glance to Quil and his face mirrored mine exactly. Right then, I knew what I was feeling. Jealousy. When Jessica pulled back, her eyes followed to Quil. She smiled at his face and turned around to her car.

"Bella? You coming?" Jessica asked. I finally snapped out of my daze and turned toward Jacob. He caught a glance of Quil and stuttered.

"Y-you know, I think I-I'll stay with Charlie tonight, k-keep him company," Jacob stuttered over his words one by one. He slowly walked to the front door, eyeing Quil the entire time. When the door was closed, Quil stood straight up and walked to Jared's moms car.

"Wise choice," he grumbled.

"Bella," Jessica called out. I stared at her for a moment and started fighting with myself. _Should I go? If I did, it would probably end in a fight. If I stayed here, well, Jacob's here and that's worse._ So, I walked forward and climbed into Jessica's car, mentally preparing myself for the horrendous sleepover to come.

_Okay. So, we've got a little drama here. Gosh. The movie is the same as it was in_ New Moon_, only it came out a year before in my story ;]. I couldn't think of a good name, and it seemed appropriate. Jacob is terrified of Quil. Bella is completely pissed off at Jessica. Hmmm. Next chapter? Let's see how this will pan out shall we?? And again, sorry for the whole not updating for like a month. _

_[by the way: I made JV for cheerleading (yay!) and finals are now OVER. So I should have PLENTY of time to write.]_

_(Reviews would be super de duper awesome!) 3 -jenny. _


	8. Sleepover

_Disclaimer: I keep forgetting that I should do this. See Stephenie Meyer around? No? Awe poo. Well, she owns it. I promise. I'm just fourteen and slightly insane. Loves._

____ _

_Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy. I know I LOVED writing it[:_

_***_

Chapter 6: Sleepover

Jessica's house was only a few blocks over, so we were there within five minutes. She parked the car, keeping her hands on the wheel, breathing heavy.

"What did I just do?" Jessica asked.

"Jess?" I asked worried.

"I just kissed Jacob!" she yelled at herself.

"Jess!"

"Quil was _so_ mad. He's gonna hate me."

"Jess, please listen," I begged her. She was having another panic attack, only this one was worse than the one in the movies. She turned to me and I thought she was going to let me talk, she didn't.

"Oh my gosh! Bella I'm _so_ sorry! I told myself that Jacob was off limits, it was just fake. But Quil wasn't showing any emotion so I just did it. How could you ever-"

"Jessica!" I yelled. She shut up. "Calm down, okay, its fine." I was a bad liar, so I wasn't sure if she would buy this. Her breathing started slowing and she looked forward again.

"We should probably go in, the dark is creeping me out," Kim suggested. The three of us stepped out of the car and entered Jessica's vacant house.

"My parents are probably still out to dinner, so we have the house to ourselves for a while," Jessica murmured, her voice shaky. "You guys hungry?"

"Yes, I'm starving," Kim answered, trying her best to lighten the mood.

"Okay, the best I can do is macaroni and cheese. That cool?" Jessica asked.

"Perfect."

She flicked the lights on in the kitchen and started the food. "You can turn on the TV, just press the big green button," Jessica called. Kim reached over and hit the button, the television coming on to the news. Kim turned to me.

"You okay?" she whispered quietly. I tried my best to play off another lie.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Kim rolled her eyes and leaned in closer.

"Because you're totally in love with Jacob, you just don't know it yet," she replied back.

"I know right?" Jessica said from the doorway. We both looked up and her face was apologetic. She sighed. "I really am sorry Bella. I just couldn't think of anything else to do, it was kind of spur of the moment." I sighed.

"I don't like him."

"Bella, you are _such_ a terrible liar. Just admit it," Kim argued.

"You like him," Jessica finished for Kim. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't stop the blush that crept up my neck to my cheeks. Both of them started laughing. "Told you."

Realization hit me. Why else would I get so angry about the kiss? It was just a simple kiss, right? Oh no.

"Okay, so maybe I do a _little_." Jessica fake coughed saying 'a lot' into it. I ignored her and finished. "But it would never work, our families are too close. He thinks of me as a sister."

"That's exactly why it _would _work!" Kim pushed. "Chief Swan would love if you two were together, him and Billy would practically be related!" Jessica's eyebrows furrowed together.

"Who's Billy?" Jessica asked.

"Jacob's dad," Kim replied. "And besides, he does NOT think of you as a sister. Do you even see the way he looks at you Bella, you are _so _clueless." I sighed in frustration and glanced to Jessica.

"I knew you only did it to make Quil jealous, it's just that when you did, Jacob did back. I wasn't expecting that," I told her. I knew it was true, the words, as soon as I said them. She let out a breath of relief.

"Thank God, I thought you hated me!" I shook my head.

"Of course not!" I promised her. "I couldn't hate you Jess, I was only frustrated." She tackled me in a hug, jumping half way across the room to get to me. It was unbelievably unexpected, which would explain why I fell back and onto the floor.

"Quil doesn't hate you," Kim explained to Jessica. "He just, you know, wants to kill Jacob, that's all."

"It was partially my fault anyway, I told him to do anything you wanted," I said. Jessica's eyes grew wide.

"Did you really? Why?" she asked.

"Because you really wanted to make Quil jealous," I explained. Her eyes were sympathetic before she tackled me into a hug again.

"You did that for me?" she asked. "That's so sweet, Bella. You're so sweet." She sat back into the couch in-between Kim and I.

"Um, Jess," Kim said. Jessica looked up. "The Macaroni?"

"Shit!" she yelled, leaping over the couch and sprinting towards the kitchen. There was a lot of banging and cursing before she came out and looked at us sheepishly.

"I don't think we'll be having macaroni and cheese. How about we just order pizza?" she asked, already grabbing her cell phone and pressing a button. "They're on speed dial, we aren't big cooks." That explained the fact that they hardly had any food.

She ordered the pizza as Kim surfed the channels. "The point is," Kim said as Jessica hopped over the back of the sofa in-between the two of us again. "Quil totally loves you," she gestured to Jessica. "And Jacob is starting to fall hard for you," she turned to me. This was beginning to irritate me.

"Oh and like Jared wasn't drooling over you through the entire movie," Jessica commented. "Because he definitely was, I saw him." I nodded in agreement and Kim blushed.

"We aren't talking about Jared, we're talking about Quil and Jacob," she fought back. A shrill ring came from the other room, interrupting us, and Jessica sighed.

"Parents," she guessed. She walked into the other room and Kim muted the TV to listen. "Hey mom, I invited Bella and Kim over-" Jessica was interrupted by the person on the other line. "Oh, um, yeah okay, Bella!" she called. I glanced up as she poked her head in the doorway, holding the phone out. "It's for you." She wriggled her eyebrows and I knew that it had to be one person. I stood up and drifted across the room, taking the phone in my hands.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Bella, its Quil," the voice said.

"Hi," I said in confusion. The television was still on mute and Jessica had disappeared up the stairs. Kim tried to pretend like she wasn't completely focused on the conversation. "What do you need?"

"I told Jessica that it was Jacob," he explained. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Okay," I said. He sighed loudly like he was preparing himself.

"Does," he stopped mid-sentence. "Does Jessica really like Jacob?" He pushed the rest out in one breath and I smiled.

"No," I answered and I heard him let out a breath.

"Does Jacob like her?"

"I'm not sure, I didn't ask," I answered.

"Okay," he said. "Oh, and can you make up something stupid that Jacob was asking? So they don't know that it was me, it's embarrassing."

"Yeah, that's fine." I tried to respond inconspicuously.

"Okay, thanks, I'll see you later Bella."

"Yeah, bye." I waited until he hung up before pressing the end button and sitting back down. Kim stared at me and rolled her eyes.

"Do I have to ask?" she said. The doorbell rang and Jessica came bouncing down the stairs with a twenty dollar bill. The boy who was delivering had acne and glasses, reminding me of Eric Yorkie. She grabbed the pizza and handed the boy the money before shutting the door in his face.

"So," Jessica prompted. "What did he want." I shrugged.

"First he said _Bella, this is Jacob_."

"And you said _hi, what do you need?_," Kim finished for me. I nodded.

"Then he said _I'm really sorry about tonight_, and I said _okay_." I tried to make myself sound convincing. "He asked if I was still mad at him and I said _no_." Kim nodded.

"I remember you saying that."

"He said, _does Jessica really like me?_ and I said, _I'm not sure, I didn't ask_. Figured I'd give him a reason to sweat," I shrugged.

"Sweet," Jessica grinned.

"Then he said _oh okay. Can I use your computer? _and I told him that it would be fine. Then we both said bye."

"Why did he want to use your computer?" Kim asked. I hoped my face didn't show panic.

"I don't know, he didn't say why," I answered.

"Oh." Jessica opened the box and pulled out a piece of pizza.

"No plates?" I asked. Jessica shook her head.

"Nah, we don't need 'em, just be careful." I reached in and grabbed a piece. Kim found a respectful channel, _the N_, and we settled on watching _DeGrassi_.

"The thing about this show," Jessica started as she threw her feet up onto the coffee table and leaned back. "Is that I think this school is a little too over the top. I mean there are way too many things wrong. A school shooting, someone getting stabbed, eating disorders, pregnancies, overdoses, abusive parents and boyfriends, that's a lot for one tiny school to handle."

"Yeah, I guess so," Kim agreed. "But some schools could be like that. Maybe it's just a really screwed up town." We talked about _Degrassi _and _South of Nowhere_ until her parents walked through the door.

"Jessica, sweetie?" I heard a woman's voice say. Jessica looked behind the sofa. "Oh, well why didn't you tell us we would be having visitors?"

"Oh sorry, I was going to but got distracted with food and TV," Jessica replied truthfully. "This is Kim Armstrong and Bella Swan, this is my mom and dad." She gestured to each of us as she said our names. Jessica's mom smiled at us.

"Well hello there girls," she said with a smile, turning to me. "Are you Chief Swan's daughter?" I nodded. "Don't stay up too late," she said to Jessica before heading up the stairs behind Mr. Stanley. Jessica rolled her eyes.

"This is boring," Kim commented. "What should we do now?" A devious smile grew on Jessica's face.

"Oh no," I said and Kim glanced to Jessica.

"Come on," Jessica said. "Lets go up to my room for this." She jumped over the sofa as she had before and started up the stairs, Kim following behind her exactly. I decided to be safe and walk around, just my luck I'd probably fall and break my arm or something.

Jessica's room was exactly the same. Queen size bed, purple walls, jewelry everywhere.

"Okay, so what is it exactly that you're wanting to torture me with?" I asked sarcastically. Jessica smiled and Kim had a confused expression across her face.

"Truth or Dare," Jessica said. I rolled my eyes. _How original-girly-slumber-party could she get? _I thought.

"Fine," I agreed. "But I ask first." Both Jessica and Kim, who understood things now, nodded.

"Jessica," I turned to her. "Truth or dare?" She snorted.

"Truth, of course." I thought for a second and smiled deviously.

"Who was your first kiss?" her eyes were tight for a moment before replying.

"Eric Yorkie," she said. My mouth lost slack and I laughed. I mean I really laughed. Not at her, no, at me and my stupid assumptions. "I-I-I was only six, that was before Mike came and, and-ugh!" She threw here arms in the air and Kim giggled.

"Whose he?" Kim asked and I smiled. Jessica knew exactly what I was going to ask for, so she walked to her bookcase and pulled out an old yearbook before I could get the question out. She pointed to a picture of Eric Yorkie, it was the yearbook from the year before. Kim's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Ew."

"Shut up," Jessica asked. "Bella, truth or dare?" I rolled my eyes and knew what was coming for me.

"Truth."

"Who was _your_ first kiss?" I hadn't expected this, I expected something that had to do with my virtue or whatever. I shrugged.

"Um, well, I kissed this kid on a dare once. His name was Martin James. He was weird," I replied.

"How old were you?" Kim asked.

"I don't know, it was like second or third grade. It was the last day of school, on the playground." I sighed. "Anyway, Kim, you know the drill." She grinned.

"Dare," she said. I raised my eyebrows at her. I turned to Jessica who smiled and motioned me over so she could whisper in my ear.

"Tell her to kiss Jared tomorrow," Jessica suggested. I smiled. We were acting like we were in middle school.

"I dare you to kiss Jared tomorrow, just walk right up to him and kiss him," I said. Kim's eyes grew as big as boulders and she was frozen in place.

"On the lips," Jessica added for me. She grimaced at both of us.

"Fine," she grumbled. I sighed.

"Truth or dare is boring," I commented and Jessica nodded in agreement. "Hey Jess," she looked up. "Do you know who Angela's first kiss was?" I asked and Jessica grinned.

"Tyler," she said. "They dated for like, a few weeks in middle school."

"This is such a small town, everybody dates the same people and everything, gosh."

"Who was your first boyfriend, Kim?" Jessica asked. Kim shrugged.

"I've never actually had a boyfriend." Jessica stiffened.

"What is with people and not having boyfriends?!" she half shrieked, keeping the volume down for her parents' sake. "Neither has Bella!"

"I always liked Jared," Kim replied. Jessica looked at me.

"Boys in Phoenix were pigs." We all started laughing and Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Boys in La Push are pigs, literally, and that doesn't stop you now does it?" she asked jokingly. I snorted.

"Oh well," I laughed. My eyelids began to droop and I realized that I was tired.

"I'm tired," I commented and Jessica giggled some more, sighing.

"Me too, we should probably go to bed, more time to talk in the daylight!" she smiled as we settled into her bed that could fit the three of us with absolutely no problem. She flicked off her light.

"Night Bella, Night Kim," Jessica said.

"Night," Kim and I said together. The three of us started laughing uncontrollably worse than before, and I honestly didn't know why.

_***_

_Wow. That was a short wait, wasn't it? Well, short for ME anyway. I'm not making Jessica a bad person, her a Bella are as tight as knots. FYI: At the end, they were laughing so much because they were so tired, that they were slap-happy. Now, lets see if Kim really will follow through with her dare… byes -jenny._

_Ohmygosh: I almost forgot to mention the reviews. They were, to put it simply, great motivation. (Cinnamon_Selkie: words couldn't describe how much you rock.)_

_____

_More Disclaimers: I don't own _the N_, _Degrassi_, or _South of Nowhere_ either. Loves._


	9. Aftermath

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the following - Twilight, Spice Girls, Bob Evans, Taylor Lautner, etc. (although, if I owned Taylor Lautner, I would probably do a little happy dance and make him marry me *sigh* only in my sad and lonely but extremely AMAZING dreams)._

***

Chapter 7: Aftermath

I woke up to the Spice Girls blasted in my ears and someone jumping on me. I opened my eyes and noticed that Jessica was the one jumping on me and singing to the words, Kim was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Kim?" I asked, rather loudly. Jessica hopped of the bed and turned the knob of the volume down on the radio.

"She had to leave earlier, her parents came and got her," she replied.

"Oh, I should probably go then too," I said quietly as I reached for my bag and started rummaging through it.

"We could hit _The Diner_, remember that one we went to a few weeks ago, after Port Angeles?" Jessica asked. We both shuddered, and I nodded in response. "Well they have really good breakfast and stuff there, so we could go there."

"Okay," I agreed. "Can we stop by my house though, I forgot all of my toiletries and stuff."

"Yeah," she answered. She stood and started combing through her closet, looking for something to wear. I settled in a simple t-shirt and jeans as she came out with an extravagant cloth dress and leggings, high heels included. I shuddered at the mere thought of heels.

"Isn't that a little dressy for breakfast?" I wondered aloud. She shook her head.

"Always look good for hot guys Bella, _always_."

"You girls want some breakfast?" Mrs. Stanley asked us when we appeared at the bottom stairs.

"Nah, we're going to _The Diner_ for breakfast, thanks though," Jessica replied as she headed out the door. I turned to Mrs. Stanley.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, I had a great time," I said to her. She smiled warmly at me.

"Our pleasure." I followed Jessica to her car and climbed in.

When we arrived at my house, Charlie's police cruiser wasn't in the drive way. I jumped out and ran to the door, which was locked. I reached for the spare key in the plant and strolled in and up the stairs. I went to the bathroom first, to brush my teeth and find myself some feminine products.

When I opened the door to my bedroom, I was surprised by a loud snoring. I looked around the room and noticed Jacob's body stretched out across my bed. He was lying diagonally, his head was hanging off of one side, his feet off the other.

At first, anger built up in me at the thought of him still here, after last night, but when I looked at his face, and I mean _really_ looked at his face, all the traces of anger disappeared. His face was so helpless, innocent, that I couldn't be mad at him even if I wanted too. His hair wasn't tied back, which was the first time I'd seen it down.

That's when I noticed his lack of a shirt. It wasn't that I minded, I was just surprised at the unbelievably well defined muscles that I hadn't noticed before. He was wearing Charlie's only pair of sweat pants, I noticed they were Charlie's from the way that they were too small.

He was, to put it simply, beautiful. I shook my head, trying to focus on what I needed. Hairbrush.

I searched around my desk first, then peaking in drawers, next came under my bed. Nothing. I stood on my knees, examining my room when I spotted it, on the rocking chair in the corner of my room. I sighed as I stood up and walked to grab the brush. I began brushing my hair as I was walking out, that I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking.

Not such a good idea for me.

I tripped on a rug, the traitor rug, that was in the middle of my room and landed with a loud _thunk_ on the floor. I watched as Jacob's snore stuttered and he jumped in a sitting position with a start, looking around, before he noticed me. His hair formed black curtains around his face. We stared at each other for a long moment before I couldn't take it anymore.

I held up the brush and said, "Forgot my brush." My blush was probably well defined by now. He blinked for a second and yawned.

"Oh," was all he managed to say. I watched his arm reach up and scratch the back of his head, noticing how his arm muscles flexed as he did so.

In my opinion, I had to choices. Number one, I could have quickly gathered myself together, walked out the door and back to Jessica's car like nothing had ever happened. Instead, my mouth decided what was best for me and chose number two.

"Jess and I are going to breakfast, do you want to come?" I asked, mentally slapping myself as I realized what I just did. At first he didn't say anything. Half of me was hoping that he would come and I could be with him longer, the other half of me didn't want him to come because Jessica would be there, and after last night I had pretty much gotten the gist that he liked her. I knew what his answer would be no matter what.

"Um, yeah sure, that sounds cool," he agreed. "I just gotta get dressed." I nodded and forced a smile on my lips.

"Okay, we'll be out in Jess's car," I said before half sprinting down the stairs and to her car. As soon as I got in, Jessica re-started the car. "We can't leave yet," I told her. She looked at me, confused.

"Why not?" she asked. I looked at her sheepishly, happy that Jacob was fast because Jacob exited the house and waved at me.

"That's why," I explained.

Jacob slowly slid into the car. "Hey," he said, mostly to Jessica. She didn't say a word, except blush furiously. She gave me her best 'I'm going to kill you' face and headed for _The Diner_.

When we arrived, the same woman waited on us as before, and she was clearly aware of the immense tension that was radiating from the table. I was sitting in-between the two of them and I was I saw Jacob shaking from nerves.

"What can I get ya, sugar," she asked Jacob. He looked down at the menu and back to the waitress.

"Uh, the Sunshine breakfast?" he replied in more of a question. She turned to Jessica next. Jessica smiled to her, without even bothering with the menu.

"Sunny side," Jessica began before adding, "bacon instead of sausage." I averted my gaze to the menu as she turned to me.

"Can I just get one pancake? And some orange juice." She smiled and snatched the menu's before returning to the back.

"So…" Jessica tried to start conversation.

"So," I repeated. We sat for about five minutes without talking before turning to Jacob.

"Why did you want to use Bella's computer last night? What was so bad that you had to get on it right away?" I froze. Oh no. Jacob's eyebrows furrowed.

"I didn't," he replied. Jessica narrowed her eyes and turned to face me. I blushed furiously and looked down. She pointed directly at me.

"You lied," she accused.

"About what?" Jacob wondered.

"Your phone conversation last night." Jacob looked completely confused.

"What phone conversation?"

"Bella!" Jessica whisper-yelled. "I swear, he said 'I'm Jacob, can I talk to Bella?'" I didn't respond so she kept at it. "Who was it?!"

"N-nobody," I stuttered. Quil would kill me if I snitched.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jacob whined. Jessica turned to spill all the details.

"Last night I get a phone call from somebody and they claimed it was you, so Kim and I thought that you were apologizing for hurting Bella-"

"What do you mean 'hurting Bella'?" I put my head in my hands and started muttering to myself.

"Nothing," Jessica lied. "Anyway, I gave her the phone and after we asked for details, she gave us a whole playback on the entire conversation." She turned back to me. "Bella, who the hell was it?" I gulped as I looked over to her.

"Quil," I finally spilled. Her eyes grew wide and she looked like she was ready to lunge to me and rip my throat out. I noticed Jacob's eyes narrow and his hand ball up in fists. "It wasn't anything bad!" I defended myself. "He was asking about you and Jacob." Jessica immediately relaxed, while Jacob was still tense.

"What did he say?" Jessica asked, cheerful again. I sighed thankfully.

"Well he asked if you really liked Jacob, and I said no. Then he asked if Jacob liked you and I said that I wasn't sure," I said.

"Okay, then what," she urged me on. I rolled my eyes at her, she was so pushy sometimes.

"Then he asked if I could make something up, to cover that it was him," I finished. Jessica smiled.

"So he really thought that I liked Jacob, just because of the kiss?" I nodded. "Oh that's perfect! Yes!" She squealed. I stole a glance in Jacob's direction and he was still tense. I immediately felt terrible. Now he knows that Jessica doesn't really like him and it was all my fault.

Our food came at that time and I felt to sick to my stomach for Jacob to eat. I pulled out my phone to text Jessica, simply typing:

_I think Jacob really likes you, I think he's upset. What should we do?_

She received the text and glanced to Jacob, trying to be nonchalant about it.

_HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. HE'S SUPPOSED TO FREAKING LOVE YOU!_

I looked at her incredulously.

_He's not SUPPOSED to love anyone._

She read the text message I think fifty times before she closed her phone, not replying.

"So Jacob," she said slyly and I felt myself freeze. What was she planning to do? He looked up, his arms finally relaxed fully, but he still seemed unhappy. "How do you feel about Bella here?" He peeked at me from the corner of his eyes and I tried to smile as best I could.

"I don't know," he said. Jessica rolled her eyes and kicked me under the table.

"I think you have to go potty now, Bella. You haven't done it since the movies." Now that she mentioned it, my bladder felt like it was about to bust. I grabbed my purse (which contained my feminine products), Jessica stood up to let me slide out and leave. Before I was out of earshot, I heard her perfectly clear. "Okay, so what do you_ really_ think of Bella? Don't lie."

After using the bathroom and washing my hands, I stood in front of the mirror for about fifteen, wondering when I should go back. I felt my phone vibrate and looked at the text.

_Did you fall in? Do I need to send lover boy to come and rescue you?_

I blushed, even with nobody around to be embarrassed in front of. I walked back to the booth and Jessica scooted over instead of letting me in. Oh great. This didn't seem like a very good sign.

Our waitress returned to grab the bill. I was probably in the bathroom when she brought it to them. "Have a nice day," she said before walking towards a table of a family that had just walked in.

"Guess that means we can go," Jessica suggested. I slid out at the same time Jacob did, and Jessica followed my lead.

"I should probably help my mom clean today," Jessica pondered loudly. "So I'll drop you guys back off at Bella's, can't waste the gas all the way to La Push." I rolled my eyes at her. _Way to _not_ be obvious Jess, _I thought. The ride was quiet, and when she dropped us off at my house, things were even worse.

The atmosphere was strange, having Jacob in my house all alone without Charlie, considering the circumstances.

"We can watch TV if you want," I suggested. He smiled his Jacoby smile that I hadn't seen all morning, which of course, made me giggle like a hopeless school girl. The giggling led to blushing, which led to mumbling. I entered the living room and turned on the television. I didn't watch much, I was always busy, but watching it with Jacob felt somehow nice.

I analyzed our positions on the couch. I was sitting, legs together, like I usually did. As for Jacob, his legs stretched out in front of him and his arm was resting on the back of the couch, his hand in very close proximity to my hair.

I dared to take a sideways glance at Jacob and immediately regretted it. He was looking directly at me, without being bothered by the fact that I caught him.

"I'm surprised," he confessed and I looked up at him. "I figured you'd ask me by now."

"Ask you what?" I questioned. He raised his eyebrows.

"My response to Jessica's question." I looked down at my knees, keeping focus on them.

"You said you didn't know," I mumbled quietly.

"Oh come on Bella, don't be like that, you know we talked after you left to use the bathroom," he pointed out. I shrugged.

"So?"

"So," he said. "I think you should ask me about it."

"Why should I ask you about it?" I demanded. He softly started drumming his fingers on the sofa behind my head.

"Because I think you'll be happy with the outcome," he mused. I sighed.

"Okay, so what did you talk about?"

"You," he grinned. I glared at him and he sighed. "Okay, okay, don't kill me. First it was about you, then we talked about her and Quil." He started shaking his head. "Man, she really likes him, doesn't she?" I nodded.

"So, what exactly about me?" I asked.

"Well, she asked me if I liked you and told me not to lie about it," he announced. I stared at him. He was actually being quite confident about this, it was different from in the restaurant. He looked so nervous when she'd asked if front of me, now he was completely fine with it.

"Okay," I pondered this for a second. I wasn't sure what to say. As much as I didn't want to know the truth, at the same time I did and vice versa. He moved in closer then, it was still far apart, but close. My breathing hitched.

"I really, really like you Bella," he whispered.

***

_hahahahahah imagine that was my evil genius laugh. I'm sorry I left it at that, but I just had to. I hope you aren't too angry to not review *puppy dog eyes*_

_Reviews were AWESOME! Special thanks to: Cinnamon Selkie, Texas' Sweetheart, and most of all, Sidney Sez. You have no idea how happy I was for the reviews. ALL of them are amazing motivation though, so keep at it please._

_*&*IMPORTANT AN: I won't be able to update for a while, for reasons that I am going on vacation to an amazing place (gahh Europe). I'll only be gone for like nine days, but I won't have ANYTIMEATALL to update, because its through this special thing and my schedule is BOOKEDSOLID. So, I love you, but if I don't update; that's why. I'm leaving on the 16th. I'm not sure of the exact date that I'll be back. 25th…? Anyways. I loveyouguys. Keep up to reviews for my sanity (and to get a good chapter) Loves. AN OVER*&*_


	10. Boyfriend

_Disclaimer: No matter how much it royally sucks; I don't own Twilight. *sigh* or Taylor Lautner. _

_Aren't you proud? Another update! Pigs must be falling from the sky at the rate I'm going._

***

Chapter 8: Boyfriend

This shocked me. I had been expecting the worse. I knew he'd had a crush on me in the beginning, but I thought that he had moved on to Jessica.

So Jacob liked me. He really, really liked me.

This had my stomach doing somersaults. I felt a mix of emotions wash over me, the strongest being relief. His eyes were watching my movements contently, reading my face over and over again, searching for a readable response.

"I like you too," my blush crept up and attacked my face. He grinned his Jacoby grin, only this one was bigger, more pronounced. He stared into my eyes for a few more seconds before leaning back into his original position.

"I told ya you would like the outcome," he accused. All that I could do was smile. I couldn't say a word, I was so in awe that I had actually pronounced the words and was able to push them out of my mouth.

He averted his gaze to the clock just above the television. To my surprise, it was nearly eleven. I figured that I should get started with the laundry and dishes, but I couldn't make myself move.

"It's getting around noon," he announced. "I should probably be heading home, you think you could give me a ride?"

"Yeah, just let me put some clothes in the washer first." I pulled out Charlie's shirts that he wore with his uniform, stuffing them in the washer and starting it up. "Okay, we can go now."

Jacob followed me out to the car and climbed in on the passengers side. I revved the engine and we were starting down the road. I began to think about recent events that had just occurred. What started out as great, turned to miserable. I knew nothing about relationships whatsoever.

I had never had a boyfriend. As I mulled on this for a second, it dawned on me that we hadn't actually talked about our relationship status at all. We technically weren't boyfriend and girlfriend.

I had never been _properly_ kissed or had I properly kissed somebody. I was sure that he hadn't either, but I wasn't positive. My thoughts wandered back to last night and I started to really panic, he kissed Jessica, and boy did she seem experienced. I pushed the thought out of my head. I didn't know how to kiss somebody. Was I supposed to lean in first? Or was that the boyfriends job. Oh well there I go on the boyfriend stuff again. It was so embarrassing to think about it, that I blushed.

"Why are you blushing?" Jacob asked suddenly, which made me jump.

"Oh, um, it's nothing," I mumbled.

"I know you better than that, you don't blush for just nothing," he accused. I didn't say anything, so he continued. "Are you going to answer me?" I sighed, surrendering.

"I was just wondering," I began. "If we were like, _together_ now." I shook my hair so that it fell, making a curtain between us so he didn't see my furious blush. I was surprised when I found that we were already at Billy's. I hesitantly glanced at Jacob through my hair and noticed that, he too, was blushing.

"I guess we're whatever you want to be," he replied. I didn't need to think about it to know what I wanted, I wanted to be with him.

"Then I guess that means we are," I pushed the hair dividing us up and behind my ear. He smiled warmly at me.

"Cool," he responded. "You want to come in for a second? I'm probably just going to make lunch for Billy, then we can walk around the beach."

"I would love to," I answered. "Thanks Jake." He opened the door as I cut the engine and we entered Billy's house.

"Well hey there Bella," Billy's majestic voice surrounded me. "It's good to see you." I blushed and smiled.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too." Jacob grinned at me before turning to his father.

"You hungry?" Jacob asked. Billy nodded.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you were gonna get back, what took you so long?" I blushed even redder and tried to preoccupy myself with the game that was on.

"I went to breakfast with Bella and Jessica," Jacob replied thoughtlessly.

"Can you explain to me why Bella is as red as a tomato?" Billy asked. I looked to Jacob in horror, he only laughed.

"Yeah I could explain, but I'm not going to," Jacob grinned at me and Billy smiled knowingly. I just shook my head, hoping some of the redness would go away with the sudden movement.

"So how have you been Billy?" I asked.

"Still dancing." Jacob snorted, but laughed.

"That's good," I murmured. I noticed as Jacob sadly attempted at fixing a grilled cheese sandwich for Billy, it was completely black. I rolled my eyes and stood up, shooing Jacob away. "You can't cook," I noted and he shrugged.

"I know." I pleasantly fixed two grilled cheeses and placed them on separate paper plates.

"Why thank you Bella, how so very nice of you," Billy said in a strange tone. I shrugged, grilled cheese was nothing.

"Why didn't you fix one for yourself?" Jacob asked quietly.

"I'm still full from breakfast."

"You hardly ate one pancake," he pointed out.

"I don't have a big appetite, it's fine, really," I promised him. "Just eat." He shrugged and dug into his sandwich. I just watched him contently, a smile on my lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Billy watching us, our movements.

Finally, Jacob was finished and he smiled at me. "We're gonna walk down the beach," Jacob announced to his father. Billy smiled.

"Mhm," he grumbled.

Being alone with Jacob was both amazing and terrifying. He held open the screen door for me and we both walked slowly down the beach. I inhaled and exhaled carefully, extremely aware of how close our hands were.

"So, how has school been going?" I asked, I wasn't very good at making small talk, this was the best I could do. He grinned.

"Good, you?"

"Same," I replied. We stopped talking again. Things were too awkward between us, it was driving me insane.

"You wanna stop here?" he asked, gesturing towards a small white driftwood tree stranded in the sand.

"Sure." It wasn't necessarily the most comfortable, but it was nice.

"This would be so much easier if I had experience!" Jacob groaned.

"Tell me about it," I agreed. He cocked his head to the side but didn't ask.

A few minutes passed before a warm hand was on mine, I looked down to where it was placed on the driftwood tree, propping me up. "I guess we can start with this," he suggested. I nodded.

"Yeah, this seems right." He smiled nervously at me. I felt like I was in first grade, it was embarrassing yet sweet at the same time.

It was my turn to watch him now. The way his hair was jet black and his eyes were majestic, exactly like Billy's. I loved the copper color of his skin, the way it always looked so warm. Most of all I liked the way his hand felt in mine, so soft and warm, his hand pretty much engulfed mine, but it was still nice.

"Okay, so look," Jacob began nervously. "I was thinking, that maybe we could go to a movie next Friday or something, just you and me." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Like a date, like a real date?" I asked. He nodded and I could feel his palm becoming sweaty. "I'd love to." He grinned wider than I'd seen him grin all night. I sighed, letting my mind wander to last nights occurrences. The movie, the laughing, the…kiss, the making up, the girl time, truth or da-

"Crap!" I hollered, jumping up. Jacob jumped with a start.

"What, Bella? What is it?" I looked at him.

"Do you know where Kim lives?"

"Yeah, why?" I smiled devishly.

"Because she has a dare that she needs to fulfill." He looked completely confused. "I'll explain on the way, lets go," I said. I suddenly missed his hand touching mine, and unthinkingly reached out and intertwined our hands together.

I called Jessica on my way to pick her up, I had to unwillingly remove my hand from Jacob's in order to do so. "Hello?" I heard her voice, she sounded tired.

"Jess, I'm picking you up, we have to go to Kim's," I said urgently.

"Why?"

"Truth or Dare," was all I needed to say before she was screaming in my ear.

"OH MY GOSH! I TOTALLY FORGOT! ARE YOU GOING TO BE HERE SOON?! SHE BETTER NOT FREAKING BACK DOWN FROM THIS!!"

"We won't let her, okay? I'm almost there," I replied. I could hear her breathing slow.

"So, what happened with you and Jacob?" she asked. I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Nothing, okay? I'll tell you later," I said, and then shut my phone. Jacob raised his eyebrows and I shook my head, signaling that it wasn't important. She was going to freak.

Pulling up to the Stanley's house, Jessica was already outside waiting. As soon as she saw Jacob, she smiled. Jacob scooted closer to me so Jessica could fit in. She climbed in my old truck and her smile grew wider. "You guys are too cute!" she gushed. I rolled my eyes at her and began pulling out of the driveway.

We made it to Kim's house in record time.

"What are you guys doing he-" was all she could get out before Jessica tackled her to the ground.

"You have to do your dare!" Jessica yelled in her face.

"No!" Kim yelled back.

"But Kimmy bear, you promised," I pleaded. She scowled at me. "Not until you make a move on YOU KNOW WHO." I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Oh gosh Kim," Jessica complained. "They've been together since this morning, get over it. You're doing this." Kim's face softened.

"You guys are together? Awe," she smiled. Jacob laughed and I blushed. I turned towards Jacob and smiled at him.

"How far away is Jared's house?" I asked. Jessica started yelling at Kim again in the background.

"Hey, Jessica," someone said. "Take it down a notch, will ya? There's people in this neighborhood." I smiled. It was Jared.

"Never mind," I whispered to Jacob. Everything got quiet, even Jessica's yelling and Kim's protests.

"Why are you on top of Kim?" Jared asked Jessica. She stood up and kicked Kim's leg playfully.

"There you go," she said. "Oh, and if you try to run, just remember. I'll catch you." Kim looked horrified as she smiled nervously at Jared. His returning smile was completely idiotic. Kim sluggishly took baby steps to him. "It'll go faster if you just hurry," Jessica complained. Kim glared at her before she turned to Jared.

"So," she began. He looked confused.

"So what?" he asked. Kim's face looked distorted, like she was being tortured. She glanced over to me with a pleading look. I smiled to urge her on. She rolled her eyes, standing on her tip toes, and kissed Jared softly on the lips before stepping back a few steps.

For a second he just stood there, processing this, then he took a long stride forward and closed the distance between them again. It felt wrong to just watch them, so the three of us turned away.

"Drive me home, Bella?" Jessica asked. I nodded and gestured to Jacob. "I'll take him home first, less gas money." She nodded. We climbed in the car and when I looked back, Kim and Jared were still going at it.

I stopped at Billy's house and Jacob jumped out of the truck. He shut the door and was walking up the steps when Jessica hit me. "What?" I complained.

"Goodnight kiss?" she asked disbelievingly. "Jacob, wait!" Jessica called. He turned around in response to his name and she practically pushed me out of the car. I stumbled up to him and smiled, he smiled back.

"Hey," he said awkwardly.

"Um, hey." We stood there for a long time before he said something.

"I'll call you, I guess." I grinned at him and nodded.

"That would be cool," I said. It was awkward for a few seconds before Jessica's words began taunting me. _Goodnight kiss._

I leaned up swiftly and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight," I whispered. He grinned.

"'Night." I sighed as I climbed back into the car where Jessica was waiting.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" She sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"_That_ was not a goodnight kiss, I would do that to my dad and it would mean diddly squat!" she said in a frustrated tone.

"Sorry," I mumbled. She sighed again.

"Oh it's not your fault, you're just too inexperienced for your own good. But I'll talk you through all of this crazy relationship stuff," she promised. "I know it's confusing."

"Mmmkay," I agreed, not really caring.

"So, when he calls you-"

"How did you know he was going to call me?" I asked incredulously.

"Because the window is down Bella, gosh, anyway," she continued. "When he calls, do you know what to do?"

"Um, I guess not."

"Well, this is what you'll do," she explained. "First, you say 'oh hey, you did call' it makes him think that you weren't expecting his call. Then, you really talk to him. Don't go through all of that awkward embarrassing stuff. Just talk."

"About what?" I asked, actually listening to her.

"Anything really," she advised. "You can talk about your like past relationships, even though you've never had one, I'm sure he has so-"

"No he hasn't," I argued. "When we were on the beach today, he complained because he didn't have enough experience." Her face was alarmed. "Why were you so sure?"

"Oh, uh, no reason," she lied, looking around her. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Jessica, why?" I demanded. She looked at me apologetically and then let her eyes drop down to her lap.

"Well, it's just that when I k-," she stopped for a breath. "Kissed me, that he seemed so experienced." I stared at her for a moment.

"So, what's that supposed to mean? He's not."

"Well, he was _really_ good Bella, not better than Quil, but good," she sighed. I thought about the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance when Jacob and I found them making out in a corner.

"So what?" I asked. "You want me to ask him if he's an experienced kisser?" I laughed at the idea. There was no way in hell that I would ask him that.

"Not exactly that, but make it part of the conversation some how," she explained. "And Bella, you just past my house."

"Oh, sorry," I apologized as I turned around.

"It's fine," she waved my apology off. "You'll do great, any questions, just text me and ask me." She started to get out. "Oh! And make sure that he calls your house phone, it's important." She leaned over and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. "See, I could do it to anybody." I rolled my eyes and shoved her out.

When I arrived back home, Charlie was sitting on the couch watching a baseball game. "Bella? Is that you?" Charlie called out.

"Yeah dad, it's me," I replied quietly.

"I ordered pizza, didn't know when you were going to be home," he said. "Pizza's in here." He looked at me funny for a second when I walked in.

"What?" I asked, puzzled. He cleared his throat.

"So, Billy called," he began. Oh no. "Said that you and Jake are getting pretty close," he seemed to be embarrassed to talk about it. "How, ah, how close is close?" I blushed a deep scarlet.

"Dad," I groaned. "We're just, I don't know, ugh." I could hardly talk to Renée about this, let alone Charlie, my _father_.

"Come on Bells," Charlie said. "I just want to know if you two are, ah, dating." I groaned again.

"Fine, then yes. We are," I replied with my all too famous blush.

"Oh, well, ah, okay then," Charlie grumbled. "I'm happy for you and him." I sighed.

"Thanks," I said as I began nibbling on a piece of pizza. My cell phone started vibrating, and when I glanced at it, it was Jessica calling.

"Hello?"

"Has he called yet?" Jessica asked before I could even finish.

I rolled my eyes and took another bite of my pizza. "No, not yet." A long pause came from the other line and then I thought I heard her growl.

"He better call, because if he's too much of a wuss to, he needs to freaking man up and grow some!" she was yelling. I blushed and glanced over to Charlie, hoping he didn't hear. He was completely focused on the game, so I grabbed another slice, threw them on a paper plate, and headed up to my bedroom.

"I think he'll call, he's just nervous Jess," I told her, part of me hoping he didn't call. "I mean, he was the one who told me he'd call me, it was his idea."

"Bella," Jessica sounded disappointed again. "Guys are stupid and they don't call you, like with Quil, he never called me."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's not your fault," Jessica said. "You know, you're really bad about saying sorry when you shouldn't."

"Sorry." A ring came from downstairs. It rang twice before I heard Charlie answer.

"Bells," he called up to me. "It's your boyfriend." I blushed furiously.

"I gotta go," I said.

"Why?" she asked angrily.

"Jacob," I answered. She was already gone. I sighed.

"Bella?" Charlie called again. I ran down the stairs and stretched out my hand so he could give the phone to me. He handed it over with a sly smile. I thought about how to answer and decided to make Jessica happy with her advice.

"Oh hey, you did call," I played.

"Uh, yeah," Jacob's voice came through the phone. _Don't go through all of that awkward embarrassing stuff_. I sighed.

"It's crazy, sometimes Billy and Charlie are worse than teenagers," I joked and he laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I can't believe my dad called Charlie." I smiled, this was easier than I thought it was going to be.

"I know, it's crazy," I agreed. "Charlie's probably gonna tell Renée tonight, after I go to sleep."

"Go to sleep after him," he suggested. "If you really don't want her knowing."

"It's not that, it's just that she'll harass me until I tell her everything, and I'm not big on the whole mother-daughter bonding thing," I explained.

"Oh," he sounded surprised.

"Is that surprising?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, but I guess it's not for you," he said. "Usually girls like to talk about that stuff right? Rachel and Rebecca always used to."

"Oh," I replied.

"Yeah."

"Oh, so how's the rabbit coming along?" I asked. He sighed.

"Still got a long way to go, but it's getting there."

"That's good."

"Hey, I was wondering if-" I began, catching myself.

"Wondering if what?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing, it's not important." He sighed.

"Come on Bella, we can talk about these things, I promise I won't laugh or be upset."

"Oh, well," I began again. "It's just that, Jessica said that you were a good-" I stopped again, only this time he waited. "A good kisser."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so I mean, I was just wondering, like, how much experience you've had, you know, with girls," I said in a rush as I felt the blush creep up my neck.

"Oh, well none, actually," he sounded embarrassed. I felt relief wash over me. "Well what about you? With guys?"

"Zero experience," I replied. "Guys in Phoenix preferred more of the sporty, tan types of girls."

"Then they don't know what they're missing out on." I blushed, despite the fact that he couldn't see me. He laughed. "Wow, I can't believe I just said that." I could hear the embarrassment in his husky voice. I grinned. Neither could I.

"It's okay, there's nothing wrong with it," I promised him. "You know earlier, this morning when you told me that you liked me?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, where did you get all that confidence from? At breakfast you seemed nervous, then you were perfectly fine." I had been wondering this all day.

"Jessica," he answered simply. "She told me to be confident and focus on your eyes."

"Why my eyes?"

"Because they're pretty," he replied. A simple kindergarten word, but I loved it.

"Thanks."

"I can't believe I did it again." I grinned.

"Don't worry, it's cute," I said.

"Cool." There was a small silence before he started talking away from the phone. "Yeah? Okay, I will." His voice was clear again. "Hey I gotta go, my dad has to use the phone."

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow…?" I left it as a question.

"Yeah, tomorrow," I could hear the smile. "Bye Bells."

"'Kay, bye Jake." I waited until I heard the dial tone before I hung up myself. I fell back on my bed and smiled up at the ceiling. That had gone way better than I expected.

I slowly walked downstairs and placed the phone back in the dock, Charlie snoring loudly, and went back upstairs to go to sleep when I received a text message from, none other than, Jessica.

_Wow, you guys have been talking for a while. How's it going?_

I rolled my eyes.

_Got off about five minutes ago. Went good. Details tomorrow. Bed. Tired. Night._

_(: Night._

***

_I really love reviews [: _

_So. It's three oh eight in the morning and I just finished. Sorry to all, but I'm going to sleep. I'm tired and yeahh. That's really my only excuse. *sigh* Don't you just love me? I didn't think that it was time for them to REALLY kiss yet. Even though I wanted it SO badly. It's even hard for me. Gosh. I promise (hopefully) the kiss will probably be like in the next chapter or so. But I have no clue what I'm going to write in the next story._

_Ohmygosh. BEST DEGRASSI QUOTE EVER_: "We're gonna Party!" "No parties." "Girls." "Nope." "Booze." "No booze dude." "Doughnuts?" "That we can do." "Then I'm so there!" lol. I 3 SPINNER. [sorry. degrassi marathon on the N and I'm slightly hyper. me and zach are playing a game to see who can stay up longest. hah. im so gonna win this thing.]

_Anyway…I'm rambling. Hmm. Well,, jacobbellajacobbellajacobbellajacobbellajacobbella_

_jacobbella. gah! loves to all reviewers _[:


	11. Week

_Disclaimer: All I own is my pur-tay white sunglasses and my overly active imagination._

Chapter 9: Week

Sunday was boring and uneventful, until I talked to Jacob. I decided that it was time to spend the day inside and clean so that the piled laundry and dishes would be taken care of. Jacob called around seven o'clock and it seemed like we talked for hours about pointless things like favorite colors and best childhood memories (red and his mom's peanut butter sandwiches for lunch everyday, she put banana in them).

Monday was not much of a difference. Jessica and I (but mostly Jessica) spent the entire day talking about Jacob and mine's relationship, she decided to make it known that I was taken. When I got home, I marinated some steaks and started homework. Jacob called and we pointlessly talked about pizza toppings and music genres (he'll eat anything and rap).

Tuesday was Jessica's day to talk about Quil, non stop. She talked about his hair, his eyes, his smile, and definitely his muscles. Angela joined in and decided that Quil was Jessica's perfect match. Jessica had called Kim the night before on Jared information and Kim was a complete mess. He didn't want to date her, needless to say that Jessica was furious with him about kissing her back, and she told me to tell Jacob to tell Jared that he'd better sleep with one eye open. So, when I got home, I waited for the usual seven o'clock time, but he didn't call.

Wednesday Jessica was furious with Jared and Jacob. Mostly because I couldn't pass on her threat, but because he hadn't called me either. Angela asked if I was okay with it and I said yes ("he has other people in his life other than me, he has a life"). Jessica rolled her eyes and told me that I needed to act more like a normal girlfriend. I told her that it hadn't even been a week. He didn't call again.

Thursday Jessica was gone (suspecting she'd received the flu from Angela) and Angela sat with me, Ben, and Eric. Lunch just wasn't the same without Jessica's animatedness, it was like the lunch room was empty almost. Thursday he finally called and apologized that he hadn't called the other days, Billy had the flu and he hadn't had any time when he was waiting on Billy. This was understandable. We didn't talk for very long, Billy needed to be driven to Harry Clearwater's, which made me unexplainably nervous considering that Jacob was only fifteen.

Friday was the day I'd tried hard not to think about, but was extremely nervous and excited for, despite the ignoring. I woke and remained in my bed, enjoying the bright sun that was gleaming through my window for the first time in weeks, until I had about fifteen minutes to make it to school. I quickly jumped out of bed, pulling on jeans and an old t-shirt, grabbed a nutri-grain bar, and raced to school as fast as I could in my ancient truck cab.

I still found a way to be late for English, where as Mr. Mason wasn't too excited about, but which he let slip since I was such an honorable student. Eric snubbed me in an unusual way, reminding me of a stuck up popular girl. By the time that lunch rolled around, Jessica was bouncing with enthusiasm about my date with Jacob tonight.

"Jess, I don't even know if it's even happening tonight, his dad might still be sick," I said quietly, not sure of which I wanted, whether Billy to be sick or not.

"Let's find out then," Jessica whispered deviously, pulling out her poorly bejeweled razor cell phone and dialing a number. It took me a second to realize exactly what she was doing before it hit me. I stretched across the table to grab the cell phone.

"Jess!"

"Hello, Billy?" Jessica asked. I heard a muffled answer from the phone. "Oh! Hi Jacob!" I wanted to wipe the ridiculous smile off her face.

"Give. Me. The. Damn. Phone." I hissed.

"Well, your girlfriend, Isabella Marie Swan, was just wondering if you were still on for your date tonight," she replied to the answer. Another muffle.

"Perfect, and where will you be going?" Muffle. "Yes." Endlessly long muffle. "You'll be making it? So you aren't going out?" Muffle. "Yeah, she's right here." Loud muffle. "Calm down, it's your first, correct?" Muffle. "Then what you're doing should be amazing to her, since it's hers too." Muffle. "Yeah, I know, I can't believe it either, guys here _love_ her." Muffle. "Calm your little freshman butt down, she likes _you_." Muffle.

"Put in on speaker, Jess," Angela suggested. Jessica's eyes lit up at the words. She moved her fingers across her lips, pretending to zip and lock her lips, then pressed a finger to them as if saying "Shhhh!"

"Jacob, don't say that, she really likes you," half way through the words, she touched a small button on the side and gently laid the phone on the table.

"-and I'm only a freshman, like you said," he was saying.

"Who cares if you're a freshman, Quil's a freshman and you don't see him doubting girls," Jessica argued with him.

"Yeah, but all girls love Quil," he said. Jessica's face went red and she mumbled too low for him to hear, "I never said I loved him."

"Do you even see the way Bella looks at you?" Jessica asked. I slapped her on the shoulder in return, she smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"The way she looks at you, is like you're the only one in the room," Jessica replied looking at me in the corner of her eye so she could block herself if I decided to swing again. I stared at her for a moment before thinking about it. Wow. She was completely right.

A loud buzz came from above us and Jessica looked disappointed. "I got to go, there's the bell."

"Okay, bye Jess," Jacob hardly finished his farewell when Jessica closed the phone, grabbed her bag, and we walked out, onto our next class.

"I wonder what all he said before she put it on speaker," Angela wondered aloud as she took her seat behind me, which she graciously traded with Katie Bowles, a girl who liked Mike, to move next to Ben. I shrugged. I still sat alone, which I usually didn't mind, except for the partner labs.

"Today we'll be doing," Mr. Zehera paused for dramatic effect, then continued. "Blood testing." My stomach churned and my eyes bulged out as he simply demonstrated our lab on a kid in the front. In the mean time, Angela had turned around to say something, until pure concern took over.

"Oh my gosh, Bella, are you okay?" Angela asked in a hush. I shook my head no, unable to speak, I didn't want to throw my lunch up all over her. Angela shot her hand in the air.

"Yes Angela," Mr. Zehera said.

"I think Bella's going to be sick," she stated simply. Mr. Zehera examined my facial expression, making sure that I wasn't faking it, before turning back to Angela.

"Okay, can you take her to the nurse's office? Come right back after," he instructed before turning to demonstrate a few other things. Angela stood up, wrapped her arm around me, and we waddled out the door.

The nurses office seemed oh so far away. When the small bell on the door rang, a plump nurse with an exhausted expression on her face, to one look at me and asked, "Blood testing?" Angela nodded and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the nurse's bed to lie down.

"Go on back to class now, Mrs. Webber," the nurse said without looking up from a few papers. Angela smiled at me and disappeared through the door. I laid there for a few minutes, bored, as my stomach started settling inch by inch. "You need some crackers sweetie?" she asked. I shook my head and kept my eyes on a small dent on the ceiling tiles. I heard the bell for the next class ring and mentally groaned. Gym. I hoped she wouldn't make me leave now. "Sweetie, you just have to fill out a few of these papers, then you're free to go whenever you'd like."

The nurse handed me a clip board and I glance at the papers. They were like health histories. I wondered if Charlie had ever turned one in, I never did. Most of the questions were easy. Name: Isabella Swan. Age: 17. Date of Birth: 09-12-1988. _(AN: it's 2005) _

I spent about fifteen minutes filling out the papers. My eyes wandered to the clock, I still had fifteen minutes left before Gym, and the day, was over. I handed the papers to the nurse and she smiled up at me. "You feel like going back to class?" I nodded and began to walk in the direction of the Gym building, before I realized my bag would still be in Biology. I had to go back to the class, with the blood, and the nausea. I thought against it and figured I'd ask Jessica to get my bag after school.

At least one good thing came out of today, I didn't have to participate in gym. I was already late enough, so what was the point? Thank goodness to the moon.

"So your okay, nothing too serious?" Mike asked as he walked me to my truck, the usual meeting place at the end of the day.

"I'm fine, it was just the blood," I confirmed. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"Are you really dating that freshman from La Push?" he blurted out, his face regretful. It shocked me that he'd actually asked, but I answered truthfully.

"Yes."

"He's two years younger than you," he complained. I shot him a look, hoping to come off as 'you're an immature baby'.

"So?" He coughed to the side and shook his head. "What?" I growled.

"Nothing, it's just, he just," he stuttered on what to say. "He doesn't seem like your type." By now we were at my truck, where Jessica was waiting.

"And you do?" she shot at him, narrowing her eyes. He looked at her funny, shook his head again, and walked away. We watched him walk away before turning to me. "What was that about."

"Nothing," I sighed, too tired to explain it. She let it go and examined me skeptically for a moment.

"Where's your bag?" she asked. I looked down to the should which I normally carried my bag on when I remembered I'd remembered it was in Biology.

"Oh yeah, Jess?" I asked. "Can you go get my bag from the biology building? They were doing blood testing and I got sick, I don't want to take any more chances." She nodded and took off for biology.

_AN: I know that was like the shortest chapter ever in history of the world, but I didn't want you guys to think I was quitting on you. I'm not. The next chapter will be up soon; and WAY better. Hope you still love me? Loves. Jenny._


	12. The Beginning

Chapter Ten: The Beginning

………………………………………………………………………….

Jessica came over to help me get ready, her car in the way when Charlie came home.

"I'm sorry Mr. Swan," she apologized for the tenth time. "I wasn't thinking about where I was parking." Charlie waved off her apology and smiled.

"No, Jessica, you're fine," he replied. "And please, call me Charlie." Jessica smiled sweetly and grabbed a piece of pizza from the box on the counter. Charlie had picked up pizza, to give me a break from cooking. He especially liked to give me breaks on Friday's. "Didn't Bella tell you?" Jessica asked suddenly.

"Tell me what?"

"Jess," I breathed quietly so Charlie couldn't hear. She only smiled bigger.

"Her and Jacob are going out tonight," she continued. "Like on a date." Charlie nearly dropped the piece of pizza in his hand. His head snapped in my direction and I smiled sheepishly at him.

"I'm sorry dad," I said. "It never came to mind, and I mean, Billy's been sick so I wasn't sure if we were still going until today at lunch."

"You still could have told him," Jessica shook her head in disappointment. "It wouldn't have hurt." Charlie nodded in agreement and glanced at me.

"Excuse me," I hissed. "But I think _somebody_ has to help me get ready." I snatched the pizza out of her hand, throwing it back in the box and drug her up to my room.

"What was that?" I growled as soon as the door was closed behind me. She shrugged.

"I thought it would have been better if you told him forty five minutes in advance, instead of two." I glared at her for a moment as she opened my closet door and rummaged through my plain clothes.

"You know you have absolutely nothing to wear," she complained, pulling out a few shirts. She sighed, frustrated, and turned to glare at me. "I guess jeans is going to have to work." I smiled hastily at her.

"You didn't think that I'd actually wear a skirt or something did you? There is no way_ that_ would happen."

"Here." She threw an old pair of skinny jeans at me, with holes in them and a simple black tank top. "This will do," she grumbled. "Go change, I have to see it in you first." She shooed me out of the room and into the bathroom to get dressed. The clothes fit perfectly fine. I stepped out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom.

Her eyes scrutinized me closely. After a few minutes, she sighed. "Okay, this is good." She grabbed my hand and shoved me onto my desk chair, grabbing my brush, and began pulling out every bit of tangle. "You know what to do if he puts his arm around you right?" she asked quietly.

"Let me guess," I said sarcastically. "Lean closer?" She smiled triumphantly.

"Correct," she thought for a moment, pulling my hair slightly. "And if he leans in to kiss you?"

"Then I let him," I said matter of factly. She made a sound like a buzzer.

"You need to play with his mind a little bit, Bella." I thought about it for a moment. Kissing Jacob would probably be nice, well, no probably about it. It would be great. This brought me back to the thought of no experience, when he'd had his first with…Jessica.

"You didn't wait with Quil! You were making out before the dance was even over, you just disappeared." Jessica blushed and smiled at the memory. She switched to my other side, doing the same thing as before.

"Quil was so amazing; it was very unnecessary to wait," she flushed. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, fine," I agreed. Jessica's eyes wandered mindlessly to my alarm clock.

"Oh," she jumped, messing with my hair much faster than had before.

"It's almost time for him to be here," she squeaked. She swatted, actually swatted, at loose strands of hair, and I could have sworn I heard her growl. "Okay, there, done," she announced, snapping something in my hair. I stood up impatiently and looked in the mirror. My hair was curlier that usual and two small bunches next to either side of my head where in thin braids and pulled back, where the clip was. I sighed.

"Thank you, Jess." She smiled triumphantly. I heard a distant car door slam and jumped. Jessica nearly jumped across my room to where the window was, a grin stretching across her face.

"Your date has arrived." I blushed and listened carefully. Hearing the knock on the door, Charlie's protective hello and Jacob's nervous reply. "Come on," she said, dragging me out of my room and down the stairs.

"You'll be good to my Bella, won't you son?" I heard Charlie ask when we reached the end of the steps, they were at the kitchen table.

"Of course, Char-Chief Swan," he corrected himself nervously. I heard Charlie guffaw in response. As soon as I was in the kitchen, both of them stood up.

"Hello Jacob," Jessica said in her expectant voice. I was extremely happy to see he was wearing a simple navy blue t-shirt with dark blue jeans.

"H-hi," he stuttered. Charlie's eyes were following mine as I took Jacob in. Jessica seemed to notice this and interrupted his scrutinizing.

"Come on you two love birds, it's time for your date," she said, shoving us both out the door in a hurry, grabbing her purse from the counter on the way.

"Bye Charlie," she called out. "Thanks for letting me be a burden in your house, and feeding me."

"No problem sweetie," I heard distantly. Jessica walked us to Jacob's car, Jacob opening the door for me.

Jessica gasped animatedly. "My, my," she began. "Jacob, I never knew you where such a gentlemen." I could see his blush, even in the black of the night. "Well, you two youngsters have fun now, ya here?" Jessica shouted from her car. I rolled my eyes as I shoved myself into the passenger side, Jacob shutting the door after I was fully inside.

"I'm so sorry about her," I said when he cranked the engine. "I love her, but she really is too much to handle sometimes." He smiled and nodded.

"It's no problem." I sighed, leaning back in the seat. It was so easy to be myself around Jacob; the silence didn't seem awkward this time, like it had a week ago. Maybe it was because we had been friends for a few months, or maybe it was talking on the phone about everything. All I knew was that I really enjoyed the silences, but I liked him talking sweet to me even more.

"You, well," he began. I waited, but he didn't finish, his blush darker.

I raised my eyebrows at him, suddenly becoming self conscious. "I well what?" He sighed loudly, in pure frustration.

"You look really nice tonight, Bella," he struggled with his words. "You look nice every night, actually." I couldn't stop the flush that crept up my neck and to my cheeks.

"Thank you," I stuttered, he nodded. I hadn't necessarily paid attention to where we were going until I saw the familiar WELCOME TO LA PUSH sign on the highway. "Where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"It's a surprise," I could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"I don't like surprises," I grumbled.

"I think you'll like this one," he replied. I grimaced, _doubt it_.

.....

Jacob was right, I liked the surprise. Which, frankly, was pretty surprising. It wasn't bad at all, actually. We arrived at his house by eight. Billy wasn't home.

He, again, opened the door for me and we walked into his very dark, very vacant house.

"I know it's not much of a date, but I do run on a budget, so I thought that maybe we could make our own pizza," he smiled.

And that's exactly what we did.

We spread the dough across a cookie sheet, then the pizza sauce, and the Mozzarella cheese. He glanced over to a small black radio lying on the counter, then back at me, pulling a pack of pepperoni out of the refrigerator. I smiled.

"You know you can turn it on if you want to," I said. He leaned over and flipped the switch on the side. Unidentifiable music blasted loudly through the speaker. He turned the knob roughly with his thumb, the music softening.

He handed me half of the package, both of us covering the pizza completely and shoving it into the oven. I watched him as his muscles tensed and un-tensed, moving things around.

A softer melody started playing, still unknown to me, though softer. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"Do you, maybe, want to dance?" he asked nervously. I hesitated, I couldn't dance. I'd told him that—

"I know you said that you can't dance, but neither can I, so it should be okay," he said, "Right?" I sighed and surrendered. I couldn't say no to him. His hand reached out, waiting for mine. I wasn't very good with things like this, but I knew what this meant.

I reached out, to meet him half way, and slid my hand in his. He grinned his goofy, Jacob-y grin. His hand rested lightly on my lower back, mine on his shoulder, and we swayed. Since neither of us had extreme balance, we couldn't do much else.

I wasn't looking at him. I was looking past him. I could feel him watching me, his eyes boring into my face. Even as the song changed, we still stayed together. His breathing was heavy and I could feel his pulse under my fingers, that were rested just at his neck, almost moving of their own accord.

It was sort of romantic in a way. Cutesy and sweet: exactly what Jessica would have _loved_.

He was staring at my eyes, then at my lips, and back to my eyes once more. I held back a nervous sneeze.

_You need to play with his mind a little bit, Bella. _Jessica's words haunted my every thought. I couldn't do that to him. Jessica could play with his mind all she wanted, but right now, I couldn't have cared less.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Both of us jumped.

"There's the pizza," he said, leaning over to open the door and take out the pan— (with oven mitts!). I blushed at the thought of kissing him.

He sliced the pizza with a knife and placed each slice on paper plates. "Your royal feast," he placed the plate on the table and I sat down at took a bite. He was watching me; I gave him the stink eye.

"What?"

"You're cute when you eat," he said finally. I, of course, blushed, and so did he.

He practically gulped down five whole pieces at once, while I stuck to two.

After I was almost completely full, and he was close to it, he sighed loudly and smiled.

"What would Miss. Bella like to do now?" he asked. I blinked. I had absolutely know idea what I wanted to do— (Well, I could have suggested one thing, but I decided better of it).

"Do you have any movies?"

He hesitated for a second. "Not really," he admitted. "Rebecca and Rachel used to watch old princess movies, like Snow White, and that's all we really have."

I thought for a moment. We could watch Snow White, I hadn't seen it in years.

"How about we just talk a walk down the beach?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts. "It's not _that_ scary at night."

"Even so," I joked. "I have you to protect me." It was completely uncalled for; but he did grin.

.....

The beach was, to put it simply, magnificent.

The moon shown just over the water, leaving a streak of bright, white light.

I had kicked off my shoes, throwing them in Billy's truck, before we headed down the edge of the beach.

The sand was cold on my feet, but it felt nice. I felt him grab my hand and I smiled, blushing as we walked, hand in hand, next to the moonlight. My eyelids suddenly began to droop. Last night hadn't been one my best nights, I had been too cold.

"Did Jessica tell you everything from the phone call?" he asked suddenly. It took me a second to process which phone call he was talking about, before I remembered our adventures at lunch.

"No," I said truthfully before adding, "But she did put the last part on speaker phone." I felt him tense. "It's okay, I didn't hear anything important." I felt him calm a little more, before stopping completely.

"What?" I asked, thinking I'd done something wrong.

"You wanna sit here, at this driftwood?" he asked. I looked at him, and then to where he pointed. The place we'd sat the first day we'd been together.

"Sure." Our hands unlocked and he sat down first, me next to him. I stared off into the deep, darkness. I couldn't see anything, except for his face and the moon.

"Bella?" he asked. I looked up into his eyes and he grinned. "I know this is going to sound completely cheesy and stupid." He took a deep breath, as if to make sure that he could say it. "But I'm not going to leave you. Ever. I really care about you," he paused, "as long as you want me, I'll be here."

I placed a hand on his cheek, making sure he wouldn't pull back before I did it. "As long as you want me, I'll be here too."

I didn't really know what else to say, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So, I did exactly that, what I wanted to do.

I kissed him.

And he kissed me back. It wasn't the kind of kissing you saw in the movies, it was sweeter, gentler. One of his hands was resting on my arm. The other was holding my hand. I smiled into the kiss and he pulled back.

I stared into his eyes, as he did mine. It seemed so long before he finally turned.

"Wow," he said. "That was, well," he couldn't seem to finish.

"Great," I finished for him.

"No," he disagreed and I suddenly became aware of the possibility that I was a terrible kisser. Instead he grinned and said, "It was actually more like amazing."

………………………………………………...

_AN: [cough, cough]. That was a short one too, I'm sorry! I'll try very hard to make them longer. But…I have AMAZING NEWS! My mother FINALLY remember the password to my computer, so it's back, and I'm free to write anytime I want. Which is almost always._

_Next chapter shall be sooner than the last few. loves..[:_

_ps: I know I'm evil for leaving it there. But that's no reason for you to throw things!_


	13. Kimberly Pauley

_Disclaimer: I own my TV that's up there ^^ and that cell phone over there and my hairbrush that's right there and I of course own ME. Definitely NOT TWILIGHT._

Chapter Eleven: "Kimberly Pauley"

It had been one week since I had my first date.

It had been one week since I had my first kiss.

It had been one week since I had experience the first overprotective father deal.

You know, the talk that every dad is supposed to give the boyfriend. It was one of the most terrifying things in the world for Jacob, and me even.

As soon as Jacob and I pulled in to the driveway, at an early ten o'clock, Charlie stepped outside. He called us both in, and I looked nervously to Jacob.

"What do you think he wants?" I asked.

"I don't know," Jacob shrugged.

We walked up the side walk, not touching each other at all, and Charlie invited Jacob in.

"Come on in and have a seat at the kitchen table, son," Charlie said. It sounded like this had been rehearsed.

_Oh dear Lord_, I thought as soon as I saw his shot gun on the kitchen table, a cleaning cloth next to it. I heard Jacob gulp loudly.

"Now Jacob," Charlie began. "I know you like Bella, and well, you know that she deserves respect, correct?" Jacob nodded, his eyes glued on the gun as he stiffly slid into the chair. Charlie had Jacob shaking like a leaf.

Charlie picked up the cloth, and, to my amazement, began polishing the gun.

"Now you're a family friend," he added. "But I would do anything to protect Bella. Anything." I swore I could hear Jacob's heart beating faster. "You understand where I'm going with this now, right?"

Jacob's voice came out high, squeaky. "Yes."

"Okay, I'll see you around, kid."

Jacob stood up stiffly, turning to me, nodding, and stalking out the front door.

I turned to glare at my father. "What was that?" I growled.

"It had to be done Bells," Charlie said. "He needs to know where I stand between you two." Charlie stood up, scratched his head, and then sat back down to watch the rest of the game.

.....

"No boys," Jessica said sharply through the phone. "This is supposed to get boys out of Kim's mind, and definitely not bring them to her house!" I knew exactly who she was talking to. "Okay fine, then don't come," she snapped, shutting the phone in fury. She slumped over in the seat, her head resting on her knees, sighing loudly.

"Leah?" I asked. She nodded furiously, not sitting up.

"I swear," Jessica growled. "That girl is obsessed with Sam, maybe it's a good thing she's not coming, we probably wouldn't get along." I shrugged.

"So who all's coming now?"

"Angela is going to come if I have to drag her out there by her hair, Emily can't come because she's babysitting her nieces, and so it'll most likely be us three," she replied.

"What about Elizabeth?"

"Who?" she asked.

"Elizabeth, one of Leah's friends."

"Oh, well," she hesitated. "She's actually kind of, you know, dating Jared now, so I figured it be best if-"

"Oh okay, I get it," I said, not needing to hear the rest.

That was surprising though. The way Kim talked, her and Elizabeth were pretty close friends, and Elizabeth knew about how Kim felt. How could she do this to Kim?

"Well that sucks," I complained. "This was supposed to be a big fun thing."

"I know," she agreed. "But at least she'll get to meet Ang." She shot up, dialing a number.

"Is Angela there?" she asked suddenly. "Okay." Jessica pressed a button, in which I heard somebody yell booger and throw something.

"Hello?" Angela's frustrated voice came through the speaker, it was the first time I'd ever heard her outside of her mellow, quiet zone, besides when she was with Ben.

"Hey Ang, it's Jessica, and Bella."

"Oh hey!" Angela said, softer now. "What's up?"

"We're on our way to get you," Jessica offered.

"Oh crap, that's tonight?! Jess, I'm sorry, I can't go. I have to baby sit booger one and booger two," she sounded grumpy.

"Don't worry about it Ang, I've got it covered." With that, Jessica hung up the phone and I turned into Angela's drive.

Angela came into view, stepping out of her house as she saw my old Chevy.

"What do you mean you've got it covered?" she demanded of Jessica as soon as we jumped out of the truck. Jessica only smiled and nodded towards an extremely familiar truck heading this way.

Jacob's truck.

"I talked to your mom and dad about it, and they said alright," Jessica smiled. "I practically had to bribe them, paying them for the dinner."

"My dad let you bribe him?" Angela gasped. I turned towards Jacob's truck, which was now parked, as him and…Quil, came walking up the walk way.

"Actually, I bribed your mom." Angela stared at Jessica long and hard, a horrified expression on her face.

"How am I supposed to leave my uncontrollable twin boogers of brothers with two strangers?"

"They aren't strangers," Jessica corrected. "It's Jacob and Quil." She motioned for them to come forward.

"You said we were going to watch a movie," Quil hissed at Jessica.

"There are plenty of movies in the house, _Star Wars_ and _Bob the Builder_," Jessica growled back. "Knock yourself out."

"I'm _not_ baby sitting kids," Quil refused. Jessica raiser her eyebrows, as if saying "you want to bet hot shot?"

"I don't know how to baby sit kids," Jacob mumbled.

"Bella, talk your boyfriend into it," Jessica whispered close to my ear.

"How?"

"Flirt."

I stood there for a moment, before walking over to Jacob, with the best flirtatious smile on my face. "Please Jacob," I grinned. "This is important to me." He blushed.

"Okay," he grinned stupidly.

"Dude!" Quil yelled, smacking Jacob upside the head.

"But Quil," I heard Jessica purr. She wrapped her arms around his neck, their lips almost touching. "This is crucial, it's the only way Kim will ever get over Jared." Quil's breath hitched a little.

"Jess, really, why don't you just bring Kim over here?" Angela begged, probably worried about neighbors seeing this.

Jessica ignored her, brushing her lips along Quil's jaw. "No," Quil said, his voice squeaky and out of place.

"Please?" she begged quietly.

"No." She trailed kisses all the way to his ear, whispering something, he stiffened slightly.

"Okay," he agreed. She grinned, stepping back.

"Then it's settled, no time for packing Angela, I have to pay Kim's parents too," Jessica said, climbing in the car. "Come on!" she yelled at us both.

Angela walked nervously to my truck, taking glances to her house, her brothers peeking through a window.

"She gets everything she wants easily, doesn't she?" I sighed, Jacob nodded and Quil smiled dreamily. "I'll see you later," I whispered, turning to walk back to my truck. His hand caught mine and he pulled me in for another sweet kiss.

Everything around me disappeared and I heard faint whistles in the background. He grinned, pulling back. "Bye," he said. "Oh, and by the way, you're a really bad actress."

"Thanks."

I walked back to the truck, brain foggy, smiling uncontrollably.

"Well, that was just hot and steamy," Jessica grinned at me.

"What do you mean _that_ was hot and steamy?" I asked. "You practically had Quil's legs shaking."

"I know," she said triumphantly.

"My neighbor's could have seen," Angela grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest tightly.

"Relax Ang," Jessica rolled her eyes. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

Angela grumbled something incoherent before saying, "I don't even understand why _I_ have to go, I don't even know her."

"She needs her girlfriends right now, and if you and I get along, and if you and Bella get along, then most likely, you and Kim will get along." Angela looked at me, as if I could prove it.

"Do you think so, Bella?" Angela asked.

"Of course, Kim's really sweet," I replied. She nodded sharply before turning to the window whilst Jessica bored us both with plans for the night.

.....

"Kimmy," Jessica whined. "You're no fun anymore."

"You're holding me hostage," Kim grumbled, glaring at Jessica.

"You shouldn't be one of those obsessive girls anyway," I said quietly. Kim snorted.

"Says the girl whose never had a boyfriend before little Jacob Black," Kim growled, before her face churning into a horrified expression at what she had just said. I felt like I'd just been slapped. Jessica's mouth dropped open and I could tell that Angela was already angry, Kim wasn't necessarily being graceful.

"You. Have. No. Right." Jessica spat at her. "To talk to her like that. She didn't say anything wrong, and you _don't _want to be one of those stupid obsessive girls who stalk their crushes, since you are pretty much stalking him already."

"I'm-" Kim started.

"And Jacob is one of the sweetest guys I've ever met, unlike Jared whose pretty much just an ass. You deserve better Kim, and we're here because we all love you and want you to be freaking happy and you're ruining it for all of us!" Jessica was on a rampage.

Kim's eyes fell to the floor and she sighed. "There is nobody else," she whispered.

"What about Embry?" I suggested. "I mean, he's sweet, shy, but sweet." Kim shrugged. "Or what about, um, Paul? Is that his name?" Kim's eyes widened.

"He has a terrible temper-"

"According to Quil," Jessica interrupted. "He got his ass kicked recently and is being nicer."

"By who?"

"Quil." This time, my mouth dropped open. Wow. Then something occurred to me.

"Wait," I said. "When do you ever talk to Quil, I thought you guys weren't speaking to each other."

"When I called him to ask about the movie, we talked for a little bit, about how things have been," she answered carelessly, like it was old news.

"Thanks for sharing this with me," I grumbled sarcastically, Jessica shrugged.

A knock came from the door, making the four of us jump. Jessica stood straight up, turning the door, her best fake "I have to be nice" smile on her face. A few seconds later, she returned with two large pizza's in her arms.

"I forgot to call and tell them to only bring one pizza now," she said glumly.

"Too bad none of the appetite insane Quileute boys aren't here," Kim joked. We all gaped at her for a second, it was the first time I'd seen her smile all night.

"That can be arranged," Jessica grinned, already dialing a number into her phone. "Hey, Quil?" she asked, pressing the speaker button. "It's Jessica."

.....

"I'm sorry about Jared," Paul murmured to Kim. "He's been a real jerk lately." Kim sniffed, nodding.

She never would have admitted it, but she loved the attention. She was soaking it up like it was sun; her head nuzzled in Embry's neck, his arms completely around her. If I wouldn't have known better, I would have thought they were dating.

Paul was hanging back, and trying as hard as he could to be polite, since Quil's "girlfriend" was in the room. "Thanks you guys," Kim smiled. Embry was being overly persistent, and it was kind of different for him, he was usually shy.

"What's this?" Jessica asked as she scooted back into the room, holding up an old leather book that looked like it had belonged in the bookstore that we'd gone to in Port Angeles when we went dress shopping.

Kim jumped right up, knocking Embry over and into Angela, trying to grab the book from Jessica, who dodged Kim perfectly, falling into Paul's arms. Surprisingly, I was the only one not on the floor.

"Give that to me!" Kim screeched at Jessica, but it was too late. Paul had already started bursting out laughing because he'd grabbed the book from Jessica's hands.

"Awe, little Kimmy Pauley has a diary," he mocked in a babyish voice. Embry stared at Paul for a second, his mouth hanging open.

"What's so bad about that?" Angela asked, as Embry helped her up, blushing.

"Kim's last name is Armstrong," Embry answered.

"Jared's last name is Pauley," Paul guffawed.

_AN: I know this one was WAY TOO SHORT. But it seemed like it should end there. I promise the next one will be WAY LONGER.(which also means it may take a while; but will get to you ASAP)._

_Thanks so much for the reviews. I love them. _

_And put in some of that CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM that I NEED. loves..-jenny_


	14. I'm in What?

Chapter 12: I'm in what?

I felt my mouth drop open at the words I heard come from Paul's mouth. I should have known. Kim really likes this guy. A lot. Out of everything that had been spinning through my head, I never would have guessed what Jessica was thinking.

"Jared's last name is Pauley?" She burst out in a fit of giggles, literally rolling on the floor laughing. "Pauley want a cracker? Pauley want a cracker?" she squawked repeatedly.

By the time that she calmed down in the slightest, Paul, Jared, Angela, and I were staring at her incredulously and Kim was near tears. I felt my emotions soften as I noticed her heavy breathing and her hair slightly frizzing.

"Kim," I whispered, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I should have known he'd never date a girl like me," she choked out. "I'm not pretty, like you and Jess, and even Angela, I'm just plain old stupid Kim." Now, the tears were going. They were really pouring, she was more upset than I thought.

Jessica was in range, so I kicked her. Hard. She abruptly jumped up in a position to defend herself when she noticed Kim.

"Kim, you aren't stupid," I argued. "And you certainly aren't plain! Jared would be lucky to have you, he's an idiot."

"Yeah," Paul agreed, a coy smile on his face. "Just ask Embry, he'd know." Paul nudged Embry's elbow.

I could tell Jessica's face from anywhere. She had an idea. A big one. Her face shot up, eyes big, grin taking over.

"You like Kim?" she asked openly and forwardly to Embry. Jessica wasn't necessarily the type to keep things in.

"Well-I-no-yeah, I guess," Embry stuttered, not making eye contact.

My mouth dropped open once more, not able to take the insaneness of the nights events. Kim stared at Embry long and hard, she looked like a zombie.

"You. Like. Me."

His eyes were glued to hers, like he couldn't look away. For a full two minutes they just stood there, staring at each other.

"Get. Out." Kim spat. Jessica and I both looked at her incredulously.

"What?!" Jessica shrieked. "A boy just confessed that he liked you and you tell him to leave?! What is screwed up in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Not. Him." Kim replied, turning to Jessica. "You. And Bella. And Angela. And Paul. Get. Out."

.....

"Do you think Kim is mad at us?" Jessica asked anxiously. "Or is she gonna hurt Embry in there?"

We were on our way back to Angela's, considering we really had nowhere to go. Paul went back to his house, and Embry was stuck in Kim's house, alone with her.

"I'm kind of worried about him," Angela whispered. "She looked kind of…angry."

"Kind of?" Jessica mocked. "I think I'm going to call her." Jessica dialed and put the phone to her ear just as we pulled into Angela's driveway. The three of us jumped out, Jessica still with the phone.

"Oh my God!" Jessica shrieked, halfway up the steps to the entrance. "You mean you guys are like?" Pause. "Really?!" Pause. "Oh my God!" Pause. "Okay, yeah bye."

Angela and I were now staring at Jessica. Oh. My. God.

"Let's hurry up and get inside, so we don't disturb the neighbors," Angela murmured, unlocking the door and walking inside. Jessica and I followed.

Angela's house was small, cozy. It was even better when I noticed Jacob and Quil, rolled up in the middle of the floor, with Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius playing. They were both dead asleep.

"Aweeeee," Jessica squealed in a whisper. "I have to get a picture!" She pulled a fancy pink digital camera out of her bag, snapping about ten pictures before ("accidentally") stepping on Quil's hand.

He shot up in one swift motion, looking at his surroundings. He plopped back down as he noticed it was us. "Morning already?" he whined.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Not even close, hot shot."

"Where are my brothers?" Angela asked nervously.

"Upstairs, in bed," Quil replied groggily. Angela raced upstairs to see for herself. Quil's eyebrows furrowed together. "If I have to be up," he grumbled, "Then he has to too." Quil grabbed a pillow off the couch and pounded Jacob in the face with it.

Jacob shot up, a little bit of drool on his the side of his mouth. "Oh, um, hey," he said, his eyes wide on me. I grinned.

"You have drool on your face Jacob," Jessica coughed, half laughing, half disgusted. He quickly wiped it off, blushing, and then stood up and walked over to me.

"Good morning," I said pleasantly, realizing that it was eight o'clock at night. "I mean, good evening."

He still looked embarrassed about the drool. "Don't worry about it," I whispered. "I think it's cute." He grinned his Jacob-y grin and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"What are you guys doing back, anyway?" His arms curled protectively around my waste, it felt so natural that I wrapped my arms around his neck in return.

Jessica hesitated before answering. "Kim found something out about a certain Quileute boy that she'd never known before." Jacob's eyebrows furrowed, then raised.

"Embry?" he asked expectantly, Quil snorted.

"Embry," Jessica confirmed. Quil rolled his eyes.

"Kid's liked her for years, never exactly had the courage to tell her."

"Poor thing," Angela mumbled, a sad look crossing her face. We stood in silence for a few seconds before Quil, his face a pure beam, half yelled across the room to Jessica, like his ears were damaged.

"So where's my surprise?" his grin turning up to his ears on both sides. Jessica rolled her eyes, blushing more than I've ever really seen her blush.

"Come here," she said, her finger curling. He lightly walked to her, a bounce in his step. Jessica took a side glance to Angela, before intertwining her hand with Quil's and leading him upstairs.

"Oh. My. God." I stuttered. Angela smiled slightly.

"Don't worry Bella, she's not going to do anything," Angela only rolled her eyes. "She's a tease." I nodded, still unsure.

We were sitting in a circle, us girls, and laughing. It was like the sleepovers in the movies.

Jacob and Quil left around nine. It was currently eleven forty five, and we were in Angela's bedroom, playing go fish.

"Bella," Jessica said slowly. I glanced up.

"Yeah?" She looked at Angela for a second, a worried look crossed her face.

"Me and Ang were talking when you went out to say goodbye to Jacob, and," she paused for a second. "We think you're totally falling for him." I blinked.

"And we mean like hard core, undeniable love," Angela confirmed.

"Mhm," Jessica agreed. "Any girl who thinks drool is cute, is in love."

"Love?" I asked, incredulously.

As soon as the word was out, it got me thinking about him. The way his smile brightened a room instantly, or the way he always kissed me unexpectedly.

His eyes were so dark, almost seeming magical somehow and his hand in mine felt so natural, so perfect that I couldn't think of it in any other way.

Like today, the way his arms wrapped around me and it felt so right. I grinned just thinking about it.

Jacob was kind of like my hero, or my safe harbor. I could go to him with anything and he would listen and smile. He was patient and safe. You could trust him with your life and he would take care of it like it was an un-hatched egg.

He never did anything to hurt me. Never said hurtful words. Never made things hard for me. It was like that in the beginning, everything was perfect. Everything was great.

Then why did everything seem to change?

I knew exactly why everything seemed change.

Jessica and Angela were right.

I was absolutely and irrevocably in love with Jacob Black.

As soon as I thought the words, I knew they were true. I was in love with Jacob Black. I knew it hadn't been long, it hadn't been long at all, nearly two weeks. But I knew how I felt, and I knew that they were true. I suddenly realized that I would give up anything for Jacob, anything in the world just to have him near me, his warmth. He was like my sun, my own personal sun. Everything about me belonged to him.

Part of me already knew from the very beginning, watching it all play out. The other part hit me like a meteor, BAM.

I was in love with Jacob Black, and that's all that mattered in my life.

"I know," I choked out. Both of them stared at me curiously, wide-eyed, mouths dropped.

"You know?" Jessica all but yelled. "You knew and you never told me?"

"No," I whispered. "I mean, you're right."

Holy Crow! I was in love with Jacob Black!

What the hell am I supposed to do now?!

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?!" I repeated aloud.

"Tell him," Jessica answered simply.

Crap.


	15. Almost Fight

So do you know what it's like to get so into another story that you almost completely forget about others except for that little nagging in the back of your head telling you that you're letting people down whilst not updating? That's sort of the case here.

**Agenda of Explanations:**

1. School. This is a total OMG major reason. Sophomore year is so busy, especailly at the beginning of the year.

2. Cheerleading. I guess this should have been my number one reason! Keep in mind, that last year when I first started writing this story, cheerleading season was over and I had tons of free time on my hands. Now, my schedule is insane.

This week is my only ENTIRE week off because football season was over Friday. Unfortunately, this coming Saturday, we have an all day camp. Then, for two weeks after that, we have preperations for basketball season every Monday-Friday. Then comes the regular practices and 2-3 games a week.

It may sound like cheerleading is miserable, but it's really not. I'm just not looking forward to this two week practice thing.

3. Computer. The internet here goes on and off constantly (because I live out in the no mans land boondocks) and so it wouldn't let me log on for a while. Then, when I could finally log on, it wouldn't let me update ANYTHING. I was going crazy. So. I decided to give up for a while, a few **weeks**, until my computer revived. I began writing a story of my own, that is not a fan fiction, and I got so wrapped up in this story that I was oblivious to anything that wasn't this story, cheerleading, or school (AND FOOD!). And so my few weeks turned into few** months**! I'd just thought to myself, "hey! I remember fan fiction!" and then I was checking everything out…and I noticed all the old reviews. With most of them..they were near touching. And I started to feel guilty. MAJORLY GUILTY. And I'm SOOOO SORRY!

4. Writers Block. MAJORLY. I had absolutely no idea what to do or what to say about anything. So this is my best..and it's gonna be pretty short. But bare with me here, and just know that things will definitely be getting better, if I have anything to say with it.

I'm not using these as excuses, just as reasons. I am truly sorry for taking so long and for everything that's happened. (: I hope you still love me..and here's another chapter as a small gift to you.

P.S. If you have any idea how I can put both stories on one account, please tell me. I might just switch my other one over to this account, but idk. Help help?

___

Chapter 13: Almost Fight

"Whatever you do, don't tell him over the phone," Angela advised me carefully.

"Right," Jessica agreed. "Make it a sweet little romanitc thing, but make it seem out of the blue. Guys usually like the random stuff."

I glanced around the lunch room, noticing the gap in the table. Mike and Lauren and all of their friends were at one end, while Angela, Jessica, and I were at the other end.

"And don't take too long, because no matter how much Jacob likes you, I'm not so sure he's confident enough to tell you first," Angela pointed out.

Jessica laughed to herself. "How much was he sweating when he told you he liked you?" she asked almost rhetorrically. Just as I was about to answer, Angela noted something else.

"Make sure it's not at an awkward place like picking him up from school," she smiled encouragingly.

"Wait," I said. Both of them glanced at me. "You want me to tell him today, the day that I'm picking him up from school, but it can't be-"

"It can't be when you're picking him up from school," Jessica interrupted me. "After is fine. Find someplace that's familiar for the both of you."

My mind immediately drifted towards the driftwood log on First Beach.

So the location was down. But I still wasn't sure_ how_ to tell him.

"Okay, so lets go over everything," Jessica suggested.

"You're going to pick him up from school," Angela sighed.

"And take him to…?"

"A driftwood tree," I confirmed.

"How are you going to get him there?"

"Um, suggest a walk on the beach?"

"Good, good. And what are you going to say?"

My mind went blank.

"I have no idea." I could feel the worry lines on my forehead and Jessica waved her hand at me.

"No, no Bella, don't worry," she murmured. That's why we're here to help you." Angela nodded as if clarification.

"Okay, first, I'm going to tell you that there is a possibility that he may think you're breaking up with him. Especially if he hasn't actually been in a steady relationship before. He won't know the level of the talks."

"What do you mean the talks?" I asked.

"The _break-up_ talk," Angela replied. "And the very first _I-Love-You_ talk." I nodded in understanding, even if it made no sense to me at all.

"There is no special way, no loop hole, you just have to go through with it," Angela said.

"And once you've started you_ cannot_ go back. Not under any circumstances whatsoever!" Jessica continued for her. "Just come out with it."

"Right, you don't want to hold back to long, it'll make him squerm. He'll feel self concious and upset," Angela added. Jessica grinned at me.

"Well that's about it," she said. "What a perfect day for Ben to miss, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten through this conversation before seventh hour."

Just as the words came out of her mouth, the bell rang for lunch to be over. The three of us stood up, and headed to our next class.

……

As I sat with the truck in neutral, watching as the doors of La Push High School opened and closed, I noticed my hands were shaking in nervousness. I sighed, my head falling against the top of my steering wheel, causing a loud honk to explode and I jumped back, pressing on my gas and started going forward. It took me a second to realize what was going on until I slammed on my breaks right before I almost hit a strangely familiar girl.

And then I realized who exactly the girl was.

Elizabeth. She looked at me, mouth open, and her eyes were wide with shock and fury. Other students who had witnessed the almost accident were staring wide eyed at my truck.

I jumped out of the truck, sliding over to her. "Oh my gosh, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry!" She glared openly at me.

"What the hell?"

"I didn't mean to," I assured her. "I was just in a daze and my head hit-"

"I don't give a crap what you say you were! You almost hit me!"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, my eyes slowly drifting to my feet.

"Oh I get it," she sneered. "This is supposed to be pay back for dating Jared and not saving him for Kim?! Whatever, you can just go to he-"

"Is there a problem here?" I heard a familiar voice ask, and realizing it was Quil, I grinned. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes Quil," she hissed. "This girl just tried to hit me-"

"I'm sure it was an accident," he cut her off. "Bella Swan wouldn't hurt a fly. Bella Swan, you know, Charlie Swan's daughter. Chief Swan. Chief of Police of Forks."

Elizabeth stared at me for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, whatever," she grumbled before turning around and walking to an old familiar van. Jared's van.

Quil growled lowly. "God I hate her," he said.

"When I first met her, she didn't seem so bad," I replied.

"That's because a month ago she didn't think that she was the greatest thing that ever happened to the world just because she was dating Jared," he explained. I nodded.

"Where's Jake?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I dunno, probably on his way out."

Just then, Jacob walked out with a girl hanging on his arm. It looked like he was arguing with her. Quil snorted. "And believe it or not, that's Elizabeth's little sister. She has the biggest crush on Jake, no matter how many ways he turns the poor girl down. She's persistent, and he hates it. She's only and seventh grade and she thinks he's the greatest thing to ever be made into this world." I felt my mouth fall open.

This girl definitely didn't look like a seventh grader. Her body had curves in all the right places, and she had long flowing black hair and the same copper skin. Her eyes were a sparkly blue, like stars, and she was gorgeous.

Jacob spotted me, an apologetic look on his face. "Amber," he said politely. "I really have to go, my _girlfriend_ is here." He pointed directly at me and her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Whatever," she growled, bumping past me hastily and sauntering towards Jared's van, in what I'm sure was a way that she thought was supposed to attractive, but it just made her look like she had a stick up her butt.

"The whole family is going to hate you now, huh?" Quil laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Am I missing something?" Jacob asked, his arm snaking around my waste and kissing me softly on the lips. I grinned into the kiss, definitely wanting more, but remembering where we were.

"Oh nothing," Quil replied. "Except for the fact that Elizabeth was just chewing out your girlfriend and you weren't even here to protect her if any fists would have gone flyin'".

Jacob looked down at me, his face alarmed. "What did you do?" he asked incredulously.

"I almost hit her with my truck," I replied, before remembering just the reason I'd almost hit her.

Love. Love. Love.

Love. Love.

Love.

I sighed. "You want a ride Quil?" I asked. He grinned.

"That would be nice."

"You know the drill," I told him and he nodded, jumping in the bed of my truck and sitting down, so his legs were sprawled out in front of him.

I turned to slide into my truck, when Jacob pulled me back. "You aren't trying to murder people are you? We don't really want that now do we? How could I kiss you if you were in jail?" I grinned at him.

"You could help with the murders."

* * *

_Again..I'm terribly sorry about the long wait. And I'm working on chapter 14 as we speak! Hope you liked..and if you care enough anymore I would enjoy a review. [: Thanks so much –Jenny._


End file.
